Jennison Associates LLC Increases Stock Position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 95.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,088 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 8,841 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC's holdings in Griffon were worth $1,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 116.1% during 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 during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 72.9% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 26.1% during 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 during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

Griffon Trading Up 1.3%

GFF stock traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.57. The stock had a trading volume of 169,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,420. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.12, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Griffon Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company's 50-day moving average price is $72.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.50.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 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%. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.91%.

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.