Ethic Inc. Has $1.68 Million Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Graco by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 393,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,159,000 after buying an additional 31,860 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at about $321,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,327,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Graco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 673,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,740,000 after purchasing an additional 10,041 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $86.43 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.49. The stock has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.