Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires 59,797 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

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. lifted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 667,692 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 59,797 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.39% of Griffon worth $47,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 116.1% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 72.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 153.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $78.17. The company had a trading volume of 458,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,685. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $76.03 and its 200-day moving average is $72.46.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.