Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stake Lessened by Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd

Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd lessened its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 78.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 60,300 shares during the period. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd's holdings in Griffon were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 25.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,300,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 6.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Griffon by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $15,728,000 after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Griffon by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 140,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $72.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.11. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $611.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The company's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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