StockNews.com Upgrades Graco (NYSE:GGG) to "Buy"

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on 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 report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.25.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $81.48. 707,269 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 674,783. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.13. Graco has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Claudio Merengo sold 12,652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total value of $1,138,933.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,696,606.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,088 shares of company stock worth $2,649,885 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GGG. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 63.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Graco by 209.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,969 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 18,931 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Graco during the first quarter valued at about $145,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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