Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 293,665 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42,452 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.17% of Graco worth $27,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Tobam boosted its position in shares of Graco by 2,330.8% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 2,700.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded down $1.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $83.39. 292,345 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,275. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.44. The company has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors 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 yield of 1.22%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Five 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.