Neuberger Berman Group LLC Buys New Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased 4,147 shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF), valued at approximately $297,000, as part of its first-quarter investment strategy.
• The recent analyst ratings for Griffon show a mix, with one downgrade to "hold" but a "strong buy" rating from Raymond James and a price target increase to $100.00.
• Griffon Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, indicating a yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 53.73%.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,147 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position 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. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 153.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Down 2.0%

Griffon stock traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.24. The company had a trading volume of 109,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,051. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.23 and a 200 day moving average of $72.53. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $60.97 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.93, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.09.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.95 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

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.