Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $990,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Graco by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Graco by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Graco by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.01. The stock had a trading volume of 296,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,647. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $82.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

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.