Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Price Target at $96.50

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.50.

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $93.38 on Friday. Graco has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $95.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.90.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Graco had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 23.33%.The company had revenue of $593.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.19%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 2,223 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total transaction of $195,757.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $690,918.76. The trade was a 22.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J Kevin Gilligan sold 12,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $1,146,330.90. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,394 shares of company stock worth $1,739,326. Corporate insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at $29,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 320.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Graco by 316.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 42.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.