ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 13,561 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,862 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 13,561 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Griffon worth $7,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of GFF stock traded down $2.55 on Wednesday, reaching $68.21. 413,962 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 441,114. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 1.17. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $70.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.42.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The business's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

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.