KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $43,325,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,800,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 21.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,423,000 after buying an additional 61,399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GFF. Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James restated 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $97.20.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $75.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 1.40. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

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 return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. This represents 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. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Griffon

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.