Xponance Inc. Buys Shares of 3,944 Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,944 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GFF. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 86.9% during the third 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 boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GFF traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.49. The stock had a trading volume of 532,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,306. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $73.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.87.

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Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reiterated 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. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.75.

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.