Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stock Position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 360,792 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,489 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.75% of Griffon worth $25,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $454,406,000 after buying an additional 177,771 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Griffon by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,582,000 after purchasing an additional 236,179 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,914,000 after buying an additional 93,100 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 674,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $48,073,000 after buying an additional 159,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $44,505,000 after purchasing an additional 623,803 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $76.44 on Thursday. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.12, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.10.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 114.46%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.91%.

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.