Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 69,573 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 432.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 85,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,573 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 340,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,908,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth about $66,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth about $572,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Graco by 6.2% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 81,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,899,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.00.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $88.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.99 and a 200-day moving average of $84.05. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $89.67.

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

Graco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase 15,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.27%.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.