The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 31.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,977 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 43.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $82.49 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.39. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GGG. Weiss Ratings downgraded Graco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

About Graco

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.