Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Graco in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $80.04 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.46.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

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.