Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $199.67 Million Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 62,761 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.43% of Graco worth $199,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 10.3% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $2,061,000. Novem Group grew its position in Graco by 34.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $88.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.06. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.79.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco 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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