Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 87,741 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,864,670 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 87,741 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.51% of Griffon worth $357,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GFF. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,598,353 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,420,000 after purchasing an additional 289,208 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Griffon by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,354,467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $82,557,000 after acquiring an additional 30,710 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 529,181 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,254,000 after purchasing an additional 97,390 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $20,531,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $63.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.65. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Griffon 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.