Graco (NYSE:GGG) Price Target Cut to $87.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Graco (NYSE:GGG) had its price objective trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GGG has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $85.60.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $82.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.84. Graco has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,846,000 after acquiring an additional 144,146 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $270,579,000 after acquiring an additional 498,724 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,802,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $156,353,000 after acquiring an additional 71,788 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $152,941,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 4.6% during the 3rd 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 Company 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.