Invesco Ltd. Purchases 236,179 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 236,179 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.88% of Griffon worth $63,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 343.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:GFF traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.16. The company had a trading volume of 565,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,525. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.88.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GFF shares. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens boosted their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.