Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes $3.83 Million Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation, purchasing 53,534 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million, representing a 0.11% ownership in the company.
• Griffon Corporation recently reported $1.50 earnings per share, in line with analyst expectations, despite a 5.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, which will result in a 0.9% dividend yield for investors of record before the ex-dividend date.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 53,534 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $3,828,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.11% of Griffon at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 116.1% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 72.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 6.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,503 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 26.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF traded down $2.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,712. The business's 50-day moving average is $77.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 57.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.15. 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 52-week low of $62.26 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.