Rafferty Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired 11,498 shares of Griffon Corporation stock, valued at approximately $822,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Griffon Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, payable on September 16th, with a 0.9% yield.
• Recent analyst ratings for Griffon include a downgrade to "hold" from a "buy" by Wall Street Zen, while Raymond James maintained a "strong-buy" rating with a price target increase to $100.00.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,498 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,568 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Griffon by 23.5% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,564 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. Integras Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth about $2,588,000. Tribune Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth about $5,362,000. Finally, Voss Capital LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 10.5% in the first quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,332,051 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $95,242,000 after purchasing an additional 127,051 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.95. The company had a trading volume of 520,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,587. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $60.97 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 57.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average price is $76.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $613.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $649.95 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

Griffon Company 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.