Palisade Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE GGG opened at $85.38 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Graco had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 22.70%. The business had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors 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 yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Company 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.