Port Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. $GGG

Port Capital LLC bought a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 885,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,974,000. Graco makes up approximately 2.7% of Port Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Graco by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Graco by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Graco by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 43.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Graco Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $79.58 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.51 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.