Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 337,437 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 337,437 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.38% of Graco worth $196,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.82. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.