Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Has $403,000 Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC significantly reduced its stake in Griffon Corporation by 95.2%, now holding only 5,641 shares valued at $403,000.
• Griffon Corporation will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.18 on September 16, representing an annualized yield of 0.9%.
• Recent analyst reports saw Griffon downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, while Robert W. Baird set a target price increase to $100.00, reflecting mixed sentiment in the market.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 95.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,641 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 112,344 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Griffon were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 234,035 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $16,734,000 after acquiring an additional 5,243 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 118.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,420 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 4,568 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its position in Griffon by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 29,811 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 6,260 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth $53,994,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth $5,010,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $2.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.00. The company had a trading volume of 252,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,228. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.70. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $62.26 and a one year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.46, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.15. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $77.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.73.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.73%.

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.