Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Invests $141.67 Million in Graco Inc. $GGG

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,873,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,667,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,396,470,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $161,949,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at $100,157,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at $97,625,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1,636.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,011,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,888,000 after purchasing an additional 952,977 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research cut Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE GGG opened at $79.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.74.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Graco 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.