Nuance Investments LLC Reduces Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Nuance Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 334,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 121,869 shares during the period. Graco makes up about 1.1% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.20% of Graco worth $28,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Graco by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its position in Graco by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Graco by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Graco by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment 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, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE GGG opened at $84.24 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.59. The stock has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued 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 1.31%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.