Amalgamated Bank Grows Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 81,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 45,002.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,390,000 after purchasing an additional 17,551 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Graco by 40.6% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 199,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,297,000 after purchasing an additional 57,580 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Graco by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 28,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.2 %

GGG opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.13. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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