Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 93,100 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $49,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,325,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,582,000 after buying an additional 236,179 shares during the period. abrdn plc purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,842,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.9% in 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. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GFF. Stephens upped their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

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

Griffon Trading Down 3.3 %

Griffon stock opened at $69.80 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.91.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

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.