Royal Bank of Canada Increases Graco (NYSE:GGG) Price Target to $97.00

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Graco Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $84.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. Graco has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graco will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Graco by 60.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.