D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 24,411 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 134.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,580 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 24,411 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.09% of Griffon worth $3,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 343.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon Stock Down 0.6%

GFF stock opened at $72.98 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.17. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $70.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The firm had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. 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 Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.91%.

Griffon Company 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.

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