Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stake Cut by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Griffon by 42.4% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at $355,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 431,791 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,129,000 after acquiring an additional 23,060 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 14.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 146,492 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,811,000 after acquiring an additional 17,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 31.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,265 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $68.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.17. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $27.45 and a twelve month high of $75.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95 and a beta of 1.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $643.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.87 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 72.80% and a net margin of 2.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total transaction of $134,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Griffon from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.