Welch Group LLC Takes Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Welch Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 671.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rock Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Griffon news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total transaction of $869,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at $167,725,034.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $65.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $37.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.33.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.51. Griffon had a return on equity of 90.02% and a net margin of 7.48%. The business had revenue of $672.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 15.83%.

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.