Aquatic Capital Management LLC Makes New $997,000 Investment in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,994 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $997,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GFF. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens increased their price objective 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 initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.20.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon 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 transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF traded down $1.33 on Tuesday, hitting $69.76. The stock had a trading volume of 96,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,699. 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 $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50-day moving average is $69.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.91. 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 (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (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 expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is 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.