Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Invests $993,000 in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,890 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $993,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,727,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,885. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average is $83.88 and its 200 day moving average is $83.73.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.