Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $38.69 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,909 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 42,975 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 1.14% of Griffon worth $38,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its stake in Griffon by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Griffon by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,451,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after buying an additional 9,417 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $70.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.20.

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.