Brokerages Set Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Price Target at $93.50

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. Wolfe Research cut Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 2,650.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 2,540.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $82.11 on Wednesday. Graco has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The company has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.61.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

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.