Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 120.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,481 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 16,680 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Griffon worth $2,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 76,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,449,000 after acquiring an additional 10,116 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $70.61 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.29 and a 200 day moving average of $72.29. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two 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 presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

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. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

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.