Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,505 Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired 6,505 shares of Graco Inc. valued at approximately $559,000 during the second quarter.
• Graco's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with an average target price of $94.50 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, with a 1.3% dividend yield, set to be paid on November 5th.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,505 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 41.5% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.72. 184,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 800,448. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.03. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $85.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.08.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The business had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.