KBC Group NV Has $2.80 Million Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 25.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $90.22 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.31 and a 200-day moving average of $82.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Graco

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.