AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,937 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.18% of Griffon worth $6,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Griffon by 343.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GFF. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $98.20.

Griffon Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $1.80 on Tuesday, hitting $74.73. The stock had a trading volume of 108,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,836. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $69.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.10.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The company had revenue of $611.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be 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 is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

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.