Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 204 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 366,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Graco were worth $30,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $80,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $83.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.95. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

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.