Boston Partners Trims Stake in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its holdings in Griffon Corporation by 1.4%, selling 7,778 shares, and now owns 550,340 shares valued at approximately $38.8 million.
• Griffon Corporation reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, matching analysts' expectations, while its revenue fell by 5.3% year-over-year to $613.63 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for August 29th, representing an annualized yield of 1.0%.

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,340 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 7,778 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.15% of Griffon worth $38,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Griffon by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 59,704 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 4,251 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Griffon by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,720 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Griffon by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 14,218 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Griffon by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,130 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $13,693,000 after purchasing an additional 30,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $1.4350 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.2850. 15,687 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,499. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.53. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 53.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58. Griffon Corporation has a 12-month low of $60.97 and a 12-month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.The business had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.