Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $22.97 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 319,161 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 244,762 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.67% of Griffon worth $22,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its holdings in Griffon by 125.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Griffon by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter valued at about $2,089,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 21.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $24,423,000 after purchasing an additional 61,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $98.75.

Griffon Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.94. The stock had a trading volume of 230,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,560. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The firm's fifty day moving average is $75.38 and its 200 day moving average is $71.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,670 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,035. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.