Pinebridge Investments L.P. Increases Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,150 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 17,405 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Graco were worth $4,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $155,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,053 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,199,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.20. 172,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 816,457. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.61. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86. The stock has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

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.