Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 90,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,586,000. Graco makes up about 1.6% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned 0.05% of Graco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Graco by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $84.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.59. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.47.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

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

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.