Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 24,420 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 98.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 24,420 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Graco were worth $4,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Graco by 1,757.7% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 53,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,566,000 after purchasing an additional 50,254 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,900,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $81.77 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.31. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Graco 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.