Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 2,773 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,084 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,773 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 27,247 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 9,896 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 5,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 14,120 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in Griffon by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock 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, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $72.25 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.92 and a 200 day moving average of $71.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

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.