Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Takes $751,000 Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Graco by 43.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Graco Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of GGG opened at $79.14 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.