Graco (NYSE:GGG) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Graco (NYSE:GGG) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 24.61%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS.

Graco Trading Down 6.8 %

Graco stock traded down $6.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $83.25. 762,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,207. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.23 and a 200 day moving average of $84.82. Graco has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Company Profile

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.