Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,455 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 10,116 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Griffon worth $5,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Griffon by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.47. The company had a trading volume of 541,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,633. The company's 50-day moving average is $74.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.08. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.40.

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Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

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