Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 319,161 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 244,762 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.67% of Griffon worth $22,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,780 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,954 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Griffon stock traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.32. 214,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 302,950. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.17. 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 $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.
Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is presently 14.69%.
In other news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,892 shares of company stock worth $1,734,296. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of brokerages have issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on 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.
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