Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Decreases Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 506,048 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,097 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 1.10% of Griffon worth $36,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Griffon by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 46,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,379,000 after acquiring an additional 16,642 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,135,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Griffon by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,225 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 57.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 18,754 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 6,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 51,175 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total value of $407,268.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 785,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,829,584. This trade represents a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525 in the last ninety days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $90.62 on Friday. Griffon Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.01 and a twelve month high of $98.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $90.01 and its 200 day moving average is $85.07. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 697.11 and a beta of 1.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 676.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

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.