Dundas Partners LLP Purchases 1,041 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dundas Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Dundas Partners LLP’s holdings in Graco were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.39. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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.