68,015 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Acquired by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 68,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,847,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,325,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,842,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $454,406,000 after acquiring an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,800,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on 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 owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $73.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.26 and a 200 day moving average of $72.63.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Griffon Company 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.