Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Graco were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark bought a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $0. Accredited Investors boosted its position in Graco by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors now owns 8,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management boosted its position in Graco by 98.4% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management now owns 9,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares during the period. BTIM Corp. boosted its position in Graco by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. BTIM Corp. now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, BB&T Securities boosted its position in Graco by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. BB&T Securities now owns 11,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $808,000 after buying an additional 3,315 shares during the period.

Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) opened at 69.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.94 and its 200-day moving average is $70.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion and a P/E ratio of 11.93. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.05 and a 52-week high of $77.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 25th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.15. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company earned $325.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.68 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post $3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 14th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%.

GGG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 27th. RBC Capital raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 27th. SunTrust initiated coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Tuesday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.13.

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) is a manufacturing company. The Company designs, manufactures and markets equipment to pump, meter, mix and dispense a variety of fluids and coatings. Its equipment is used in the construction, automotive, industrial, mining, oil and natural gas, process, public works and other industries. The Company operates in three segments: Industrial, Contractor and Lubrication. The Industrial segment markets equipment and pre-engineered packages for moving and applying paints, coatings, sealants, adhesives and other fluids. The Contractor segment markets sprayers for architectural coatings for painting, corrosion control, texture and line striping. The Lubrication segment markets products to move and dispense lubricants for service garages, fleet service centers, automobile dealerships, the mining industry and industrial lubrication applications. Graco sells its products in North, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:GGG

Receive News & Ratings for Graco Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Graco Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.