JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $32.57 Million Stock Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 427,674 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 25,681 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $32,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 166.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after purchasing an additional 202,714 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Griffon by 123,307.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 191,282 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 191,127 shares during the period. Voss Capital LP grew its position in Griffon by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,535,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,890,000 after purchasing an additional 185,000 shares during the period. Lodge Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,042,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 430,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,760,000 after purchasing an additional 134,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $68.26 on Monday. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $63.92 and a 1 year high of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $83.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 228.83%. The company had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.65%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,792.80. This represents a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,428,653.68. The trade was a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.