Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. $GGG

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Graco by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 23,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 6.0% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 5.5% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 3.9% in the first quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $84.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.03. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.