Sarasin & Partners LLP Purchases New Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 278,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,446,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.16% of Graco at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Graco by 60.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 0.3 %

GGG stock opened at $85.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.87 and a 200-day moving average of $84.36.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

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

Graco 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.