2,956 Shares in Griffon Corporation $GFF Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,956 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth about $53,994,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 52.3% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 951,120 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,005,000 after acquiring an additional 326,663 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $22,108,000. Voss Capital LP grew its holdings in Griffon by 10.5% in the first quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,332,051 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $95,242,000 after purchasing an additional 127,051 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Griffon by 43.4% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 259,238 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,536,000 after purchasing an additional 78,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GFF opened at $73.94 on Friday. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.61 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 55.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.95 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 53.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.20.

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.