D.B. Root & Company LLC Invests $960,000 in Graco Inc. $GGG

D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 12,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $960,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 330,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,592,000 after acquiring an additional 44,573 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 97.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Graco by 559.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 108,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,293,000 after purchasing an additional 91,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 21,289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,830,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $80.82 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.98. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.51 and a 12 month high of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 37.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

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.