Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 25,600 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 87.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,600 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Graco were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% in the 4th 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. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,923,000 after buying an additional 19,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 184,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,518,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $81.43 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The stock has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.35 and a 200-day moving average of $84.67.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $526.98 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.