Korea Investment CORP Acquires 94,700 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 270.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 129,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,700 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Graco were worth $10,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Graco by 93.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Graco by 194.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 220,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,339,000 after buying an additional 145,599 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the third quarter worth $299,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 1.3 %

GGG opened at $83.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $93.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.64.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.