Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,682 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 43.2% during the second quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 42,701 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after buying an additional 12,890 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Griffon by 11.3% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 86,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,587,000 after acquiring an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 200.9% in the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,963 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,259 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339 shares during the period. Finally, Voss Capital LP raised its holdings in Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,350,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,700,000 after purchasing an additional 17,949 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GFF. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. CJS Securities upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.60.

Griffon Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $81.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.41. Griffon Corporation has a 12-month low of $63.92 and a 12-month high of $86.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.52, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The conglomerate reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $662.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.47 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 181.66%. Griffon’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

Griffon 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.