Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Position Lowered by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 485,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 24,577 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $40,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 149.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Graco by 13.8% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,855,000 after purchasing an additional 8,490 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth $2,335,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 150.6% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares during the period. Finally, Novem Group raised its position in shares of Graco by 34.5% during the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 11,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $87.59 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.11.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.50.

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.