Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stake Boosted by Man Group plc

Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,900 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 16,599 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.45% of Griffon worth $15,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $454,406,000 after purchasing an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $63,582,000 after buying an additional 236,179 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $49,914,000 after buying an additional 93,100 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 674,520 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $48,073,000 after purchasing an additional 159,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,505,000 after acquiring an additional 623,803 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GFF shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.21. The company had a trading volume of 413,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,114. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $70.13 and its 200 day moving average is $73.42. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 14.91%.

Griffon Company 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.