19,065 Shares in Griffon Corporation $GFF Purchased by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,065 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 3,769.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,130 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after buying an additional 33,248 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 9.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 667,692 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $47,740,000 after acquiring an additional 59,797 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Griffon by 11,460.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 11.5% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,669 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,564 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.60.

Griffon Stock Down 0.9%

GFF stock opened at $76.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.97. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $63.92 and a 12 month high of $84.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 76.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The conglomerate reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $662.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.47 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 181.66% and a net margin of 2.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.00%.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.