Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for Graco Q1 Earnings

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Graco in a research note issued on Monday, February 17th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $0.66 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.67. The consensus estimate for Graco’s current full-year earnings is $3.07 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Graco’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.79 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.78 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.88 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.79 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.85 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.21 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.57 EPS.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%.

GGG has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of GGG opened at $87.20 on Wednesday. Graco has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GGG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $155,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,053 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,676,000 after buying an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its position in Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.