Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives $94.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

GGG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth about $3,806,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Graco by 10.6% during the second quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 129,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,106,000 after acquiring an additional 12,352 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Graco by 82.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 180,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,027,000 after acquiring an additional 81,706 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 572.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 437,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,549,000 after acquiring an additional 372,543 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 49,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 10,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:GGG opened at $82.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.15. The stock has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.09. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $89.67.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback 15,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 19th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.54%.

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.