Man Group plc Has $15.32 Million Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Man Group plc raised its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 214,900 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,599 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.45% of Griffon worth $15,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,451,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 27,247 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 9,896 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $73.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.17. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.30.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $611.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.20.

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.