Maren Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Maren Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 714,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,670 shares during the period. Graco accounts for approximately 3.7% of Maren Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Maren Capital LLC owned 0.43% of Graco worth $61,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Graco by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 16,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,069,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,903 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,806,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 129,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,106,000 after acquiring an additional 12,352 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 82.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 180,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,027,000 after acquiring an additional 81,706 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $82.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $91.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.19 and a 200 day moving average of $84.28.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 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.