Vestcor Inc Makes New $136,000 Investment in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,902 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $70.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.31. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Two investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

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.