Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 128.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Trading Up 0.2%

GGG stock opened at $83.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.12.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.