Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 6,671 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 23.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,671 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Graco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its position in Graco by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 23,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $82.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.03. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.50.

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.