Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Price Target at $92.40

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.20.

GGG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $81.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.13. Graco has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business 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 firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Graco will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Graco by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 71,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,044,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.