Graco (NYSE:GGG) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $105.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Graco traded as high as $90.66 and last traded at $86.89, with a volume of 813 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $87.65.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $96.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.50.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Graco by 432.6% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 85,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,263,000 after buying an additional 69,573 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Graco by 154.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 64,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,466,000 after buying an additional 39,031 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,837,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 18.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 81,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,899,000 after acquiring an additional 12,575 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth approximately $2,477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.97.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Graco had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $593.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 38.19%.

Graco declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase 15,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.