Norges Bank Invests $21.45 Million in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 300,985 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $21,451,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,325,000. abrdn plc bought a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $12,842,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $454,406,000 after purchasing an additional 177,771 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter worth $9,800,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $4,847,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $68.20 on Monday. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GFF shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens upped their price objective on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $97.20.

Griffon 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.