Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $14.63 Million Investment in Graco Inc. $GGG

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 193,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,633,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Graco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $727,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Graco in the second quarter worth approximately $738,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Graco in the second quarter worth approximately $752,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $97,625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Graco Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $81.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.03. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.11%.

Graco 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.