Trexquant Investment LP Grows Stock Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,494 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,497 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $10,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 109.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 33,002 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 19,291 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Griffon by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,761 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 86.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GFF shares. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens increased their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $97.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock opened at $75.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.69%.

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.