Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 16,680 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 120.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,481 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 16,680 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Griffon worth $2,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GFF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Griffon by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 76,455 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,449,000 after acquiring an additional 10,116 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Griffon by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 343.5% during 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. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $551,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.94. 442,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 400,852. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Company 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.