S Bank Fund Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 4,830 Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired 4,830 shares of Graco Inc. valued at approximately $403,000 in Q1, marking a significant investment in the industrial products company.
• Analysts have set an average target price of $94.50 for Graco, with the stock currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by multiple research firms.
• Graco announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 1.3% based on its current dividend payout ratio of 39.01%.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,709,000 after acquiring an additional 495,293 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 48.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 9,453.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,419,000 after acquiring an additional 395,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $31,553,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $84.86. 566,812 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,485. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.04. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The firm had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $590.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

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.