William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 63,134 Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 63,134 Graco shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $4.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.88% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with Graco receiving a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $95.00; ratings range from “Outperform” to “Peer Perform” and “Neutral.”
• Graco exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.91 in EPS versus the $0.81 consensus, although revenue of $590.55 million fell short of estimates. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.295, yielding about 1.5% annually.

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 63,134 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,774,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,562,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 5.2% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Graco by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Graco by 43.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 target price on Graco in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Graco from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Graco from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Graco Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE GGG opened at $80.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.51 and a twelve month high of $95.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.98.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. Graco's payout ratio is currently 37.11%.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco's solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company's product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.

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