Graco (NYSE:GGG) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $89.35, but opened at $82.95. Graco shares last traded at $84.19, with a volume of 385,607 shares trading hands.

The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,846,000 after purchasing an additional 144,146 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,579,000 after purchasing an additional 498,724 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Graco by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,802,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,353,000 after purchasing an additional 71,788 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $152,941,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 4.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,845,000 after buying an additional 69,151 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.82.

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.