Graco (NYSE:GGG) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Graco (NYSE:GGG) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $81.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. Graco has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.05.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GGG. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 116.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,201,000 after purchasing an additional 396,125 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 508,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,688,000 after purchasing an additional 246,984 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 3,165.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 249,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,467,000 after purchasing an additional 242,056 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 373.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 266,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,923,000 after purchasing an additional 210,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 217,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 110,845 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.