Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $43.33 Million in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 607,895 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $43,325,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 343.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Griffon by 86.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. 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. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Griffon

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 transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GFF shares. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GFF opened at $68.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.16. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

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.