iA Global Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Graco by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $362,808,000 after buying an additional 188,579 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after acquiring an additional 337,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,295,000 after acquiring an additional 70,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.00 and a 200 day moving average of $85.51. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its 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, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 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 upgraded shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

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.