Summit Global Investments Makes New $231,000 Investment in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,248 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,291 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Griffon by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,423,000 after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF stock opened at $74.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 1.40. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.32 and its 200 day moving average is $72.63.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price 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. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon 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.