Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel Sells 3,265 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.04, for a total transaction of $228,680.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 747,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,362,394.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 282,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,849. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.26 and a 200-day simple 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Griffon’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 fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Griffon by 486.0% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,834,000 after purchasing an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,531,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,074,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $7,433,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Stephens reiterated 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 lowered their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.