Man Group plc Buys 16,599 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Man Group plc increased its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 16,599 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.45% of Griffon worth $15,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Griffon by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,300,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 6.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $15,728,000 after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of GFF stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.15. 47,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,941. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50 day moving average is $70.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. 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 firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GFF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

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.