Confluence Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. by 1.9%, selling 13,174 shares and owning approximately 670,046 shares valued at $57.6 million as of the latest report.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in Graco, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its stake by over 9,400% in the last quarter.
• Graco's recent earnings report indicated a quarterly EPS of $0.75, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78, and the company reported revenue of $571.81 million, below expectations.

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 670,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,174 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.40% of Graco worth $57,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 128.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $84.93. 195,857 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 796,336. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $85.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.12. The stock has a market cap of $14.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.03. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GGG. Wolfe Research began coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.50.

Graco 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.