Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of Graco by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 254.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Graco by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after purchasing an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $83.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.44.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco 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.