Graco (NYSE:GGG) Receives "Buy (B-)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Graco received a "Buy (B-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, with a consensus target price of $94.50 based on reports from multiple analysts.
• Despite a Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $0.75 for the last quarter, Graco missed analysts' projections of $0.78, with revenues also falling short at $571.81 million.
• The company's stock has seen a 12-month low of $72.06 and a high of $92.86, and shares are currently trading around $83.59.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reiterated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

GGG has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Graco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $83.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.12. Graco has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $571.81 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 41.5% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 0.4% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.