National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,867 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Graco were worth $8,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Graco by 10.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 264,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,121,000 after acquiring an additional 18,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 22,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 7,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

GGG opened at $90.19 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.41. The firm has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four 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 a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company 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.