Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Sells 9,548 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lowered its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 89.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,177 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 9,548 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Griffon were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,325,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $63,582,000 after buying an additional 236,179 shares during the period. abrdn plc acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,842,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $454,406,000 after acquiring an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.92. The stock had a trading volume of 438,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,783. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.10. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $618.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target 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.