Metis Global Partners LLC Has $594,000 Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 59.4% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 16,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,069,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,345,000 after purchasing an additional 14,903 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 9,811 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Graco by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 293,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,486,000 after purchasing an additional 68,084 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,806,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $82.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.28 and its 200-day moving average is $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.07 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Graco

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.