Ronald J. Kramer Sells 13,690 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 13,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $958,710.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,181,441 shares in the company, valued at $152,766,313.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Griffon Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.47. 282,826 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 437,849. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $38.33 and a 52-week high of $77.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.34. 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 (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 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 business 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 business posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $557,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $4,013,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $1,830,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Griffon by 228.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.