1,089 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Bought by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 486.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,531,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,483 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 12,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 168,799 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,347. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Down 3.0 %

GFF opened at $67.88 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.34 and its 200 day moving average is $67.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.