Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 1,600 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $5,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 5,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 1.1% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 56,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $70.53 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.83. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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 1.02%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.75.

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.