ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC Trims Position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF)

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lowered its position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Griffon makes up approximately 3.8% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Griffon worth $2,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $1,443,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 153.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 111,834 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $7,996,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.61. The company had a trading volume of 342,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,072. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.12. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.46.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 114.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus target price 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.