Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Price Target at $92.40

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.20.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Graco by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $84.08 on Wednesday. Graco has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.09. The stock has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

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.