32,783 Shares in Graco Inc. $GGG Bought by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 32,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Graco by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Graco by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Graco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $79.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.52. The firm has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.93. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.51 and a 1 year high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

About Graco

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.