Barington Capital Group L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Barington Capital Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 50.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Griffon makes up approximately 2.2% of Barington Capital Group L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Barington Capital Group L.P.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Griffon by 486.0% in 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 stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,531,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC grew its stake in Griffon by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,074,000 after buying an additional 165,000 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $69.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.50. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 company’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,560 shares of company stock valued at $15,290,160 in the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.