Barclays PLC Acquires 1,102 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,503 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the first quarter worth about $478,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Griffon by 931.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 64.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,754 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 116.6% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,373 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GFF shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $46.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.21. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $47.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 15th. The conglomerate reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $641.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.83 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 60.20%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 42.86%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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. Its Consumer and Professional Products segment manufactures and markets long-handled tools and landscaping products for homeowners and professionals; wood and wire closet organization, general living storage, and wire garage storage products to home center retail chains, mass merchandisers, and direct-to builder professional installers; wheelbarrows and lawn carts; snow, striking, and hand tools; planters and lawn accessories; garden hoses; and pruners, loppers, shears, and other tools, as well as cleaning products for professional, home, and industrial use.