Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 6.9% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 14.0% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 237,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,839,000 after acquiring an additional 29,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter worth about $320,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $79.68 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08.

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 company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of 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 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

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.