Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $1.71 Million 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 increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,423 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Graco were worth $1,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 128.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of Graco by 43.6% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,057 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth about $140,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 21.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,834 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two equities research 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.50.

Graco Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.59. The company had a trading volume of 146,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 822,832. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.08. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.