M&T Bank Corp Acquires 342 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Graco by 16.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Graco by 24.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,758,000 after buying an additional 28,589 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its stake in Graco by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 77,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,756,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $2,026,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $4,112,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Up 0.8 %

Graco stock opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.46. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,483 shares of company stock worth $4,123,245 in the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GGG shares. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

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.