Canoe Financial LP Purchases 501,003 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 359.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the quarter. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $53,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 0.3 %

GGG stock opened at $85.26 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.28.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.