Carlson Capital Management Has $2.25 Million Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Carlson Capital Management lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,199,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

GGG opened at $84.33 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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.