New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Graco Inc. by 54.9%, selling 20,432 shares and leaving them with 16,794 shares valued at $1.4 million.
• Graco's recent quarterly earnings missed analysts' expectations, reporting $0.75 EPS against a consensus of $0.78, alongside revenue of $571.81 million, which was below estimates of $590.57 million.
• Graco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275, yielding 1.3% annually, with a payout ratio of 39.01% as of the last payment on August 6th.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC cut its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 54.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,432 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $199,667,000 after purchasing an additional 62,761 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,676,000 after acquiring an additional 518,462 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,800,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,736,000 after acquiring an additional 29,224 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $126,196,000 after acquiring an additional 486,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $100,392,000 after acquiring an additional 79,881 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock traded up $1.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.76. 112,955 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 822,656. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.