First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Takes $213,000 Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,979 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Griffon by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Griffon by 116.1% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its position in Griffon by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Down 2.2%

Griffon stock opened at $70.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.91%.

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.