Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,229 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.25% of Graco worth $34,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,443,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $124,117,000 after acquiring an additional 11,924 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 97.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Maren Capital LLC increased its stake in Graco by 4.3% in the second quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 714,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,441,000 after acquiring an additional 29,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Graco by 134.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 160,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,786,000 after purchasing an additional 92,096 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 target price on Graco in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $83.39 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.13 and its 200 day moving average is $84.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $91.00.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

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.