Voya Investment Management LLC Buys 5,617 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon Corporation by 26.6% in Q1, owning about $1.91 million worth of stock after purchasing additional shares.
• Griffon Corporation reported $1.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, but its revenue decreased by 5.3% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, yielding 1.0%, with a payout ratio of 53.73%.

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 26.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,702 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 5,617 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Griffon worth $1,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 178.4% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,628 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 111,834 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $7,996,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 85,035 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,080,000 after buying an additional 14,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $75.95. 221,106 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 329,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.70. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 56.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.13 and a 200-day moving average of $72.93. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.26 and a 12 month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $613.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.73%.

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.