Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 41,573 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 202,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,573 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Graco were worth $17,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at $30,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 1.4 %

Graco stock opened at $82.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $85.00 and its 200-day moving average is $85.48. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.