Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.60.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Graco by 3.9% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 8,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Graco by 298.9% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 714 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 20,522 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,992,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $82.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,086,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,190. The firm has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company's 50 day moving average price is $91.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 23.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

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.