Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Acquired by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 41.5% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $82.42 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.27. The firm has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Graco Company Profile

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.