Graco (NYSE:GGG) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Graco (NYSE:GGG) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Graco had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 23.15%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.02. The company had a trading volume of 175,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,694. Graco has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.25 and a 200-day moving average of $84.85.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.