AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 1,810 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 93.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $69.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.20.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 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.