The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,047 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $218,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,178,320 shares in the company, valued at $152,482,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $218,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,178,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,482,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,020 shares of company stock worth $16,722,924 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Griffon Stock Up 2.4 %

Griffon stock opened at $68.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.20. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $38.33 and a 12 month high of $77.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

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). The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.09%.

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.