Graco (NYSE:GGG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price target increased by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $93.00 to $97.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.20.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $83.66. 129,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,781. The stock has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.83. Graco has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.01.

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

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $303,000. Modus Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 3,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,668,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Graco

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.