Gotham Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,984 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 12,793 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Griffon worth $1,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GFF. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.98. 262,920 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 440,837. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.99 and a 200 day moving average of $73.37. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.91%.

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.