Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $4.64 Million Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. by 70%, selling 129,384 shares and retaining only 55,559 shares, valued at approximately $4.64 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their holdings in Graco in the first quarter, with notable boosts such as Bessemer Group Inc. and Farther Finance Advisors LLC improving their positions by 149.5% and 150.6%, respectively.
• Graco's latest earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $571.81 million, missing analyst estimates, along with an EPS of $0.75, slightly below the consensus of $0.78.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 70.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 129,384 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 982.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake 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 valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,886,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,303. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The business's 50-day moving average price is $85.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco's payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

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.