Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Position Boosted by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,834 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Griffon were worth $7,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,125 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,451,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 27,247 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 9,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 59,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 4,251 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $71.89 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.15. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 14.91%.

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.