Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Takes $443,000 Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,219 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its stake in Griffon by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $21,451,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 27,247 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 9,896 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research 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.com, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.20.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $71.13. 315,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,059. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $69.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.17. 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.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. 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.