Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,367 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Griffon were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 44.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,871 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 7,935 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,525 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 33,002 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE GFF opened at $70.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Profile

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.