American Century Companies Inc. Has $2.98 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 83.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,750 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 18,966 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.09% of Griffon worth $2,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Griffon by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $61,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $43,325,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Griffon by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 558,118 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.57. 307,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,188. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week 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's fifty day moving average is $72.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.92. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 1.26.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 for the company. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $97.20.

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.