JLB & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

JLB & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 189,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,312,000. Graco makes up approximately 1.9% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. JLB & Associates Inc. owned 0.12% of Graco at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,396,470,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $161,949,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth $97,625,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 1,636.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,011,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,888,000 after purchasing an additional 952,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in Graco by 236.4% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,279,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,711,000 after purchasing an additional 899,174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Weiss Ratings raised Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $81.09 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.51 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Graco Company Profile

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.