Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 113.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,206 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.32% of Graco worth $45,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Everest Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 1.7% in the first quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC now owns 21,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Graco by 15.3% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 36,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,061,000 after buying an additional 4,793 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $943,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 87.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 721,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,092,000 after buying an additional 337,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Graco by 105.2% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 125,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,593,000 after buying an additional 64,138 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Graco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Graco Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:GGG opened at $81.02 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.58. The company has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.93.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.11%.

About Graco

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.