Steamboat Capital Partners LLC Invests $1.07 Million in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Steamboat Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,943 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GFF. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,300,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.20.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $73.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.17. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $55.01 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.30.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. The firm had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.91%.

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.