Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a drop of 37.3% from the September 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 758,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.25.

View Our Latest Report on Graco

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam boosted its position in shares of Graco by 90.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock traded up $0.57 on Monday, reaching $86.87. The company had a trading volume of 110,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,817. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.95 and its 200 day moving average is $83.12. The company has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graco will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Graco Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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