William Blair Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Graco (NYSE:GGG)

Graco (NYSE:GGG)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at William Blair in a note issued to investors on Friday, RTT News reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on GGG. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.39. 425,854 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 663,824. The company has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.85. Graco has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2,330.8% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 3,063.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

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.