KBC Group NV Raises Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 6,829 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Graco were worth $3,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,513 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 9,811 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 72.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 8.2% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 7.6% in the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 8,376 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Graco

Graco Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $80.07 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $83.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.49. The stock has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The firm had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. Graco's dividend payout ratio is 37.54%.

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.

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