607,895 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 607,895 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $43,325,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 1.26% of Griffon as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $98.75.

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Griffon Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $1.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.58. 110,723 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 403,482. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.14. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.