Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.30 Per Share

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.295 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This is a 7.3% increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Graco has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. Graco has a payout ratio of 37.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Graco to earn $3.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.4%.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $86.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $82.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.99. Graco has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $89.67. The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.00.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.