Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 2,997 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Graco worth $8,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 41.5% in 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 position in shares of Graco by 982.6% in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.38 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.07. The company has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.