ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 22,262 Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,262 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 343.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 10.1 %

GFF stock opened at $72.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.91.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 10.20% 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.