HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,361,000 after buying an additional 91,794 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Graco by 14.5% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,618,000 after buying an additional 182,470 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new position in Graco during the first quarter valued at $111,428,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after acquiring an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $82.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.40. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $74.79 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

About Graco

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.