Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,657 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 73,200 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.19% of Griffon worth $6,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Griffon by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Trading Down 0.3%

GFF traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $68.73. 362,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 441,642. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 1.17.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The business had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. 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 Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

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.