Griffon Corporation $GFF Stake Boosted by Synovus Financial Corp

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Griffon Corporation by 23.5%, owning 17,564 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Griffon Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with a yield of 0.9%, and a dividend payout ratio of 53.73%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Griffon, with two recommending a Strong Buy and three suggesting a Buy, giving the stock a consensus target price of $98.20.

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,564 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Griffon were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Voss Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 10.5% during the first quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,332,051 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $95,242,000 after purchasing an additional 127,051 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Griffon by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 951,120 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $68,005,000 after buying an additional 326,663 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.9% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 828,013 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $59,203,000 after acquiring an additional 38,818 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $53,994,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 674,520 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $48,073,000 after acquiring an additional 159,557 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Griffon stock traded down $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $76.07. The stock had a trading volume of 360,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,129. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 56.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $60.97 and a 1 year high of $86.73.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 53.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.20.

Griffon 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.