Griffon Corporation $GFF Stake Raised by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Griffon Corporation by 3,769.6% during the first quarter, holding a total of 34,130 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million.
• Analysts have set a strong outlook for Griffon, with Raymond James and Robert W. Baird both raising their price targets to $100.00, indicating continued optimism in the stock's performance.
• Griffon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with an annual yield of 0.9%, further attracting investor interest amidst fluctuations in revenue and earnings.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 3,769.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,130 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 33,248 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Griffon worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 116.1% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 72.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 555 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,894 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Griffon by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,503 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $76.07. 360,951 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 553,050. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.15. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.38 and its 200-day moving average is $72.36. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $60.97 and a one year high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $613.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.95 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.The business's revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 53.73%.

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.