Snyder Capital Management L P Increases Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Snyder Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 896,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,985 shares during the quarter. Graco accounts for about 1.6% of Snyder Capital Management L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Snyder Capital Management L P’s holdings in Graco were worth $75,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $155,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,053 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,196,000 after acquiring an additional 486,277 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $80.38 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.70. The stock has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $526.98 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.