Graco (NYSE:GGG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.13 EPS

Graco (NYSE:GGG) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13), Zacks reports. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $85.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.47 and a 200 day moving average of $84.65. Graco has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.