Aberdeen Group plc Has $18.54 Million Stock Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Griffon Corporation by 43.4% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately 259,238 shares valued at $18.54 million.
• Griffon Corporation reported a quarterly EPS of $1.50, matching analysts' expectations, but faced a 5.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a $0.18 quarterly dividend, representing an annual yield of 1.0%, with a payout ratio currently at 53.73%.

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 43.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 259,238 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 78,460 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.54% of Griffon worth $18,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,681,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Griffon by 3,769.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,130 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 33,248 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Griffon by 26.5% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,105 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $8,945,000 after purchasing an additional 26,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $22,108,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GFF. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 395,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,892. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $60.97 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.44, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.The firm had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Griffon's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 53.73%.

Griffon 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.