Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $17.04 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 202,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,573 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.12% of Graco worth $17,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $38,199,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Trading Down 1.4 %

GGG opened at $82.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.