MilWealth Group LLC Makes New $63,000 Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its stake in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted 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 worth $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $84.15 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.00 and a 200 day moving average of $84.67. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’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 approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 in the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco 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.