Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 12,379 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,852 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 12,379 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.43% of Griffon worth $14,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,291 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its position in Griffon by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Griffon by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $24,423,000 after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $97.20.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.09. 88,860 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 425,801. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 1.40. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 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.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.69%.

Griffon Profile

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.