D.B. Root & Company LLC Invests $960,000 in Graco Inc. $GGG

D.B. Root & Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $960,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Graco by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Graco by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE GGG opened at $80.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.98.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

About Graco

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.