Vestcor Inc Takes Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,902 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 229,497 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,065,000 after buying an additional 28,731 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,871 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 7,935 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $36,395,000 after buying an additional 34,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Down 0.9 %

GFF stock opened at $70.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.31. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GFF. Stephens increased their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target 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.