Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 126.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,915 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC owned 0.06% of Graco worth $8,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Graco by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 508,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,699,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 115.1% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 116,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,057,000 after acquiring an additional 62,603 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 652,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,075,000 after acquiring an additional 25,541 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Legacy Group bought a new position in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 79,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,792,000 after acquiring an additional 4,698 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $79.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.40. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The company had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

About Graco

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.