Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,512 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,836 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.09% of Griffon worth $2,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at about $557,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,013,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after acquiring an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 228.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,560 shares of company stock worth $15,290,160 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $69.48 on Monday. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

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.