Danske Bank A S Invests $12.48 Million in Graco Inc. $GGG

Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 165,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,476,000. Danske Bank A S owned about 0.10% of Graco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,981,000. JLB & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth about $14,312,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at $441,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,877,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE GGG opened at $81.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.51 and a 52-week high of $95.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.03.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Graco Company 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.