Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Graco (NYSE:GGG)

Graco (NYSE:GGG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $103.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 29.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GGG. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.75.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE GGG traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $79.32. 60,778 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 708,571. The firm has a market cap of $13.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.08. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Graco will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 2,330.8% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.