Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in Graco Inc. by 6.5%, now owning approximately 1.00% of the company, valued at $139.24 million.
• Graco's quarterly earnings reported a miss on EPS, coming in at $0.75 versus the expected $0.78, with revenues at $571.81 million, below analyst estimates of $590.57 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, providing an annualized yield of 1.3% and reflecting a payout ratio of 39.01%.

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,667,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 115,045 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.00% of Graco worth $139,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $199,667,000 after purchasing an additional 62,761 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 valued at $162,676,000 after buying an additional 518,462 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Graco by 1.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $152,737,000 after buying an additional 28,795 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 48.1% in 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 buying an additional 486,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 7.2% in 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 buying an additional 79,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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 initiated coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded up $2.6310 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $87.3110. The company had a trading volume of 556,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,291. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.72 and a 200 day moving average of $84.18.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $590.57 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is currently 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.