Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 755,155 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $53,994,000. Griffon comprises approximately 0.5% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.57% of Griffon at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 116.1% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 72.9% in the first 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. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 26.1% in the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.
Griffon Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $0.54 on Friday, reaching $80.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,549. The stock's 50-day moving average is $74.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.82. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.12, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.09.
Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $611.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 114.46%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.
Griffon Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.91%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.
View Our Latest Report on GFF
Griffon Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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