Northern Trust Corp Raises Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 448,464 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 44,166 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.94% of Griffon worth $31,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,300,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 6.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $15,728,000 after buying an additional 9,417 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 140,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $9,978,000 after buying an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GFF stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.09. 46,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,887. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $69.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.17.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price 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.