Evergreen Capital Management LLC Purchases 252 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,667,000 after acquiring an additional 62,761 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Graco by 1.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,737,000 after acquiring an additional 28,795 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Graco by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,392,000 after acquiring an additional 79,881 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Graco by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,166,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $98,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,399 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,709,000 after acquiring an additional 495,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $85.31 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.03.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of 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 shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.