William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes $4.77 Million Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 63,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Graco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 5.2% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Graco by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 43.2% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $80.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.98.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.