Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 6,501 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,289 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,501 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.14% of Griffon worth $4,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its holdings in Griffon by 43.2% during the second quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 42,701 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 12,890 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 200.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,963 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,259 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339 shares during the period. Voss Capital LP increased its stake in Griffon by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,350,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,700,000 after purchasing an additional 17,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,048,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.60.

Griffon Trading Up 0.9%

Griffon stock opened at $83.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.57 and a 200-day moving average of $75.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $63.92 and a one year high of $84.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The conglomerate reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.02). Griffon had a return on equity of 181.66% and a net margin of 2.03%.The company had revenue of $662.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.00%.

Griffon Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.