Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 18,059 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,059 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in 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 several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $83.47 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.52. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

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.