Graco (NYSE:GGG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Graco (NYSE:GGG) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share.

Graco Price Performance

GGG traded down $6.31 on Thursday, reaching $83.04. 814,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,652. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.82. Graco has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GGG. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total value of $232,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,481,535.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company 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.