Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,367 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Griffon were worth $953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $43,325,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,800,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 21.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,423,000 after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $70.94 on Monday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GFF shares. Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.