Bank of Nova Scotia Buys Shares of 32,999 Graco Inc. $GGG

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,495,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter valued at about $1,396,470,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,813,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,503,000 after purchasing an additional 242,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 5.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 261,126 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Graco by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,057,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $332,556,000 after buying an additional 206,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Graco by 2.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,016,000 after buying an additional 53,126 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Trading Up 1.1%

GGG opened at $79.58 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.74. The firm has a market capitalization 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million for 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 for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

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.