Graco (NYSE:GGG) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Graco (NYSE:GGG) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share.

Graco Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:GGG traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,086,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,942. Graco has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.60.

About Graco

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.