Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 1.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,887,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 96,503 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Griffon worth $448,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 539 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 33.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Griffon by 1,049.1% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 609 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. The trade was a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Down 2.3%

GFF opened at $85.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $83.05 and its 200 day moving average is $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.33. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.92 and a fifty-two week high of $97.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 95.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price target on Griffon in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Monday, December 29th. CJS Securities raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Griffon Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.