Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys New Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 58,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 2,650.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 78.6% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Graco by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. Weiss Ratings upgraded Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two 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.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $77.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.19. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $608.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

About Graco

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.