Praxis Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Praxis Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 48.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 41.5% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.4% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 23,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 5.5% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $84.62 and its 200 day moving average is $83.99. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.50.

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.