Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 62,500 Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 62,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,454,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 343.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $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 Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $69.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.71 and a 200-day moving average of $72.89. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.17.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.20.

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.