ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GFF. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Man Group plc raised its position in Griffon by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 214,900 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $15,316,000 after purchasing an additional 16,599 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 31.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,400 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 134.4% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 42,580 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 24,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.7%

GFF stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.19. The company had a trading volume of 47,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,941. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.17. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $70.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The firm's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus 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.