First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Raises Stock Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 200.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,963 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,984 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 153.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $226,000. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,010,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 234,035 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,734,000 after acquiring an additional 5,243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GFF opened at $76.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 56.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.11. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.26 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.95 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 144.21%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 53.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.20.

About Griffon

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.