Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $27.45 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 12.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 293,665 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42,452 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Graco were worth $27,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Graco by 1,010.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,223,000 after acquiring an additional 50,855 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 567.4% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 36,471 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,412,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $1,606,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Graco by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,618,000 after buying an additional 182,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.2 %

Graco stock traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $83.39. 292,345 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,275. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

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.