Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Position Boosted by Fenimore Asset Management Inc

Fenimore Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,086,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Graco comprises 1.9% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Fenimore Asset Management Inc owned about 0.64% of Graco worth $91,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Graco during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Graco by 60.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.52. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Company Profile

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.