Griffon Corporation $GFF Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Griffon Corporation by 9.8% during the first quarter, holding 667,692 shares valued at approximately $47.74 million.
• Various institutional investors have significantly adjusted their positions, with firms like Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC acquiring new stakes and boosting existing ones.
• Griffon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.0%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 29th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 667,692 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 59,797 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 1.39% of Griffon worth $47,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 116.1% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 72.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 153.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Up 1.6%

Griffon stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.98. 130,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 393,178. The company's fifty day moving average price is $75.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.38. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $60.97 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Griffon's 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.