Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 87,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Graco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 184,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,518,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 28,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 63,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,392,000 after buying an additional 18,059 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $2,721,000. Finally, Carlson Capital Management increased its holdings in Graco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 26,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $83.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.49.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

About Graco

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.