Atom Investors LP Makes New $6.93 Million Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Atom Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 79,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,000. Graco makes up about 0.7% of Atom Investors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G Plc increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.0% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,673 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 254.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 140,417 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Graco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $876,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $91.08 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.00.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

About Graco

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.