Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 14,078 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Graco Inc. by 11.4% during Q1, owning approximately 137,943 shares valued at $11.52 million.
• Graco reported a missed EPS estimate of $0.75 for the last quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.78, with revenue of $571.81 million, below analyst estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $1.10 and a dividend yield of 1.3%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 14,078 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.08% of Graco worth $11,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 247,741 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,882,000 after acquiring an additional 26,124 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,322 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $31,553,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,001 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Graco by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 73,547 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,199,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Graco Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GGG traded down $0.86 on Friday, reaching $84.43. 204,597 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 822,416. The stock has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $85.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.10. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Graco's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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