Primecap Management Co. CA Boosts Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,400 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.50% of Griffon worth $16,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after acquiring an additional 30,264 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,325,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Griffon by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Griffon by 74.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock 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 reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $71.81 on Thursday. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.