Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Bought by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 320.7% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $81.59 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.50.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

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.