65,466 Shares in Griffon Corporation $GFF Bought by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired 65,466 shares of Griffon Corporation in Q1, amounting to approximately $4.68 million, increasing their stake to 0.14% of the company.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC with a $22.1 million stake, have significantly adjusted their positions in Griffon, leading to institutional investors owning 73.22% of the company's stock.
• Griffon reported $1.50 EPS in their most recent quarter, matching analysts' estimates but with a revenue decline of 5.3% year-over-year.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 65,466 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $4,681,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Griffon as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Griffon Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded up $0.1340 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.2640. The company had a trading volume of 176,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,810. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $60.97 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.91, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 53.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon 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.