Graco (NYSE:GGG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Graco (NYSE:GGG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 24.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS.

Graco Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of Graco stock traded down $6.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.27. 695,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 654,423. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.82.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 34.69%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.80.

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.