denkapparat Operations GmbH Invests $201,000 in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $21,451,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $4,847,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 247,892 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,667,000 after purchasing an additional 18,395 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $70.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.07 and its 200 day moving average is $72.69. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.69%.

Griffon 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.