Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires New Stake in Graco Inc. $GGG

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,324,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,157,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at about $1,396,470,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Graco by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,813,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,503,000 after acquiring an additional 242,817 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Graco by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,652,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,642,000 after acquiring an additional 261,126 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Graco by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,057,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $332,556,000 after acquiring an additional 206,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Graco by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,016,000 after acquiring an additional 53,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $79.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.74. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.51 and a 12 month high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.