Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 184,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,041 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $15,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco during the third quarter valued at $30,000. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $83.42 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.51. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its 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, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GGG. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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, Graco currently has an average 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.