Forsta AP Fonden Has $6.41 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its holdings in Graco Inc. by 21.6% in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 76,800 shares valued at approximately $6.41 million.
• Graco recently reported earnings of $0.75 EPS, missing expectations, with revenue at $571.81 million for the quarter, indicating a 3.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, reflecting a 1.3% yield and a payout ratio of 39.01%.

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 21,200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Graco were worth $6,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 137,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,520,000 after acquiring an additional 14,078 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 20,423 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,069,869 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,903 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Graco in the first quarter worth $140,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 78.1% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Trading Down 2.5%

Graco stock traded down $2.16 on Thursday, reaching $85.36. 421,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,677. The stock has a market cap of $14.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.04. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.11.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.