Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $2.37 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 230.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $2,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,899,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 1.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Griffon by 2.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Griffon by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $62.16 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 125,447 shares of company stock valued at $8,385,495. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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 one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

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.