Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,687 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 4,609 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 314,005 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $22,379,000 after acquiring an additional 30,193 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens increased their target price 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. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $97.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.16. 565,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 437,374. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.26. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $71.38 and its 200-day moving average is $72.91. 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 data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

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.