Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $210,000 in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 5.7% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 511,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,971,000 after buying an additional 27,502 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 14,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 95,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $87.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $76.28 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.33.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.