Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $447,000 Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,327 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Griffon were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Griffon Stock Up 0.6 %

Griffon stock opened at $69.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.46. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $29.11 and a 52-week high of $75.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.59 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 72.80%. The firm had revenue of $643.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total transaction of $134,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

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.