Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $28.25 Million Stock Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 396,432 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 19,878 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.83% of Griffon worth $28,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $454,406,000 after acquiring an additional 177,771 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $63,582,000 after acquiring an additional 236,179 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Griffon by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $49,914,000 after purchasing an additional 93,100 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Griffon by 31.0% during the 4th 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 position 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 worth $44,505,000 after purchasing an additional 623,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.18. 319,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 441,098. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month high of $86.73. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $69.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.46.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Griffon's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reissued 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. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Strong 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.