Zacks Research Has Pessimistic View of Graco Q1 Earnings

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Graco in a research report issued on Monday, February 17th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings per share of $0.66 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.67. The consensus estimate for Graco’s current full-year earnings is $3.07 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Graco’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.79 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.78 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.88 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.79 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.85 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.21 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.57 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $87.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results 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%.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Graco by 3.4% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 254.8% in 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 during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% in 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. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Graco by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Company Profile

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.