Petrus Trust Company LTA Invests $314,000 in Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 3,756 shares of Graco Inc., valued at approximately $314,000, in the first quarter of the year.
• Graco's quarterly earnings were reported at $0.75 EPS, missing estimates, with revenue of $571.81 million, compared to analyst expectations of $590.57 million.
• Institutional investors own a significant 93.88% of Graco's stock, with several funds increasing their holdings by notable percentages during the same period.

Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the first quarter worth $41,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 128.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Graco by 74.8% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 699 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Graco by 92.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.46. 555,755 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,658. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.13. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.