VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $1.20 Million Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,300 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Griffon by 362.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $37,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.42, for a total transaction of $10,242,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,684,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $172,505,698.74. The trade was a 5.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $369,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 193,256 shares of company stock worth $19,802,875 over the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 target price on Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9%

GFF stock opened at $96.11 on Friday. Griffon Corporation has a 52 week low of $65.01 and a 52 week high of $108.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 1.45.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. The firm had revenue of $481.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.70 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.45%.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified holding company that manufactures and distributes products for residential, commercial and industrial markets. Its operations are organized primarily around home and building products, as well as consumer and professional products, with sales in North America and international markets.

Through its building-products businesses, Griffon offers garage doors, rolling steel doors, security grilles, shutters and related access products. Its brands include Clopay, Cornell and Cookson, which serve residential, commercial and industrial customers through dealers, distributors, contractors and other channels.

Griffon’s consumer and professional products operations include garden and landscaping tools, outdoor equipment and ceiling fans.