Boston Partners Has $40.43 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 558,118 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Griffon were worth $40,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $43,325,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Griffon by 74.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares during the period. abrdn plc acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Griffon in the third quarter worth $9,800,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 21.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,423,000 after purchasing an additional 61,399 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Up 2.5 %

Griffon stock opened at $71.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.40. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.69%.

About Griffon

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.