Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Holdings Cut by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,852 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,379 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Griffon were worth $14,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 7.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after buying an additional 34,525 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,419,000 after acquiring an additional 33,002 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,291 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Griffon by 430.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 23,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 19,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Griffon by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,761 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon 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 transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Trading Down 2.0 %

Griffon stock opened at $70.53 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.69. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.