Nuance Investments LLC Reduces Stock Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Nuance Investments LLC cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,135 shares during the quarter. Graco makes up about 0.6% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,637,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Graco by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 158,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,624,000 after buying an additional 20,535 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Graco by 1,056.2% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 124,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,676,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 7.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 255,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,989,000 after acquiring an additional 18,214 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.46. The stock has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The firm had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 37.54%.

Graco 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.