Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 43.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,161 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 244,762 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $22,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew 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 period. abrdn plc bought a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Griffon in the third quarter worth about $9,800,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 120.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 89,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 21.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GFF. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $77.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average of $71.17. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total transaction of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,892 shares of company stock worth $1,734,296. 10.20% of the stock is owned by 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.