Tidal Investments LLC Raises Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 254.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Graco by 25.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth approximately $876,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $87.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

About Graco

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.