Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF – Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,258,644 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,560 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Griffon worth $116,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Griffon by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,303 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Griffon by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 243,545 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,717,000 after buying an additional 87,030 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Griffon by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 368,969 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,205,000 after buying an additional 30,738 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 528.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 21,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 17,814 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. TheStreet cut Griffon from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Stephens decreased their target price on Griffon from $52.00 to $37.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Griffon Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE GFF opened at $32.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 1.55. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.43 and a fifty-two week high of $43.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The conglomerate reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $710.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $723.23 million. Griffon had a positive return on equity of 40.44% and a negative net margin of 10.22%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently -8.79%.

Griffon Company Profile

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Griffon Corp. is a diversified management and holding company, which conducts business through its subsidiaries. It provides direction and assistance to its subsidiaries in connection with acquisition and growth opportunities. It operates through the Consumer and Professional Products and Home and Building Products segments.