State of Wyoming Purchases Shares of 14,481 Graco Inc. $GGG

State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Graco by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Graco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 43.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $81.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.51 and a 12 month high of $95.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.08 and a 200-day moving average of $82.22.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th were given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Graco Company Profile

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.