Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Sells $1,409,651.35 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 20,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $1,409,651.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,195,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,681,121.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $68.80. The stock had a trading volume of 310,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,094. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.33. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $38.33 and a 52 week high of $77.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $20,531,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $787,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $786,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 56,033 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,415,000 after buying an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.