Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 43.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,549 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,683 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Griffon by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 7,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Griffon by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 448,464 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,962,000 after buying an additional 44,166 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 86,937 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,196,000 after buying an additional 8,707 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,298 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 15,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $322,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $79.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.15. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $60.97 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.95 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 144.21%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.