Graco (NYSE:GGG) Price Target Cut to $87.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price objective cut by Robert W. Baird from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GGG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Graco from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment 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 an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $81.97 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,846,000 after purchasing an additional 144,146 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,579,000 after buying an additional 498,724 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,802,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $156,353,000 after acquiring an additional 71,788 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $152,941,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 4.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,845,000 after acquiring an additional 69,151 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.