Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Feb 25th, 2023

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 737,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.44% of Graco worth $44,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Graco by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 1,481.4% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 601,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,226,200.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Eric Etchart sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $431,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,824.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 601,770 shares in the company, valued at $42,226,200.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,948 shares of company stock valued at $4,096,787. Corporate insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Graco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 14th. Three equities 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, Graco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $69.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.11. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.48 and a 12-month high of $72.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $555.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. Graco had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 25.67%. Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

About Graco

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Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which designs, manufactures and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Contractor and Process. The Industrial segment includes the Applied Fluid Technologies and Industrial Products divisions.