Primecap Management Co. CA Has $19.68 Million Position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. increased its stake in Griffon Corporation by 15.4%, owning approximately 275,200 shares valued at about $19.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Research analysts have been optimistic about Griffon, with three analysts rating it as a "strong buy" and raising the price target to $100 from $92.
• Griffon recently declared a $0.18 quarterly dividend with an annualized yield of 1.1%, set to be paid on September 16th to shareholders recorded by August 29th.

Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 36,800 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.57% of Griffon worth $19,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 116.1% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 72.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 26.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 153.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $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 during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $1.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,097,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,908. The business's 50-day moving average price is $74.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.09. Griffon Corporation has a 52 week low of $57.57 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $613.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.95 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 144.21%. Griffon's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

About Griffon

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.