Port Capital LLC Grows Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Port Capital LLC boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 783,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Graco makes up approximately 3.1% of Port Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Port Capital LLC owned about 0.46% of Graco worth $68,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents 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 worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GGG opened at $91.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

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.