Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Graco by 2,650.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 982.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 43.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $79.48 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.51 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.58 and its 200-day moving average is $82.52. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. 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.