Narwhal Capital Management Grows Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Narwhal Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 101.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,274 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,331 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Graco were worth $6,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,198 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Graco by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,758,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Graco by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 77,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,026,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $751,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 906,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,833. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.51 and a 200-day moving average of $83.35. The stock has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $68.76 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $566.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $565.86 million. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $464,772.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,144,097.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GGG. StockNews.com raised Graco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.80.

Graco 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.