Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 326,663 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Griffon Corporation by 52.3%, acquiring an additional 326,663 shares in the first quarter, resulting in total holdings of approximately 951,120 shares valued at $68 million.
• Wall Street analysts have set a consensus rating of "Buy" for Griffon Corporation, with several firms, including Raymond James and Robert W. Baird, issuing price targets of $100 per share.
• Griffon Corporation recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18, marking a dividend yield of 1.0%, scheduled for payment on September 16th to stockholders of record.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 52.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 951,120 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 326,663 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 1.98% of Griffon worth $68,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 116.1% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 72.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 8.4% during the first quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,894 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Griffon by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,720 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Griffon Stock Up 4.6%

GFF traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 395,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,892. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.44, a PEG ratio of 1.15 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 1 year low of $60.97 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $75.47 and its 200-day moving average is $72.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.95 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 144.21%. The business's revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

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.