Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,352 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Graco by 5.5% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 6.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.25.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $85.92 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.02. The company has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

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.