CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 2,046 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 367 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,046 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $43,325,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,451,000. abrdn plc purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,842,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $454,406,000 after acquiring an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the third quarter worth approximately $9,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Up 10.1 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $72.20 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.91. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. 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 capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.26.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James reissued 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. Stephens raised 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. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $97.20.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

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.