BNP Paribas Financial Markets Decreases Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37,211 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Graco were worth $5,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Graco by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 199,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,793,000 after acquiring an additional 8,352 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.50. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The business had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.