Dundas Partners LLP Acquires 1,041 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dundas Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the quarter. Dundas Partners LLP’s holdings in Graco were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 293.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 2,834 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in Graco by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 1.4 %

GGG opened at $87.60 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.83 and a 200 day moving average of $85.39.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.