Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock Holdings Lowered by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,646 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 25,050 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.11% of Griffon worth $3,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Griffon by 4.1% during the fourth 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 fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 5.9% in 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. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $71.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.26.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Stephens raised their price objective on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.20.

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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