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

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 134.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 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. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $44,505,000 after purchasing an additional 623,803 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $43,325,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $63,582,000 after purchasing an additional 236,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $12,842,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.13. The company had a trading volume of 314,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,589. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.17.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.