Graco (NYSE:GGG) PT Lowered to $85.00 at Robert W. Baird

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its target price reduced by Robert W. Baird from $88.00 to $85.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $82.14 on Friday. Graco has a 12-month low of $70.80 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $83.93 and its 200 day moving average is $82.58.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at about $111,428,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter worth about $44,069,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth about $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 54.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,502,000 after purchasing an additional 286,212 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.