Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Acquired by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $454,406,000 after buying an additional 177,771 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Griffon by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,582,000 after acquiring an additional 236,179 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after acquiring an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $49,914,000 after purchasing an additional 93,100 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $43,325,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GFF. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.20.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Down 2.4 %

GFF opened at $68.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.26. 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 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.90.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio 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.