Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Increases Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Graco Inc. by 26.6% during the first quarter, holding 20,423 shares valued at $1.7 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 93.88% of Graco's stock, indicating strong confidence and support in the company's growth.
• Graco recently reported a miss on EPS estimates with $0.75 over anticipated $0.78 and revenues of $571.81 million, suggesting mixed financial performance.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,423 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Graco were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 149.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,855,000 after acquiring an additional 8,490 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $2,335,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Graco by 150.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares during the period. Finally, Novem Group boosted its position in Graco by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Novem Group now owns 11,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Graco Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $83.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.13. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The stock has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.04.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%. The firm had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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