Griffon Corporation $GFF Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 62.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,958 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 21,938 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Griffon were worth $942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Griffon by 362.6% in the 4th 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. acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total transaction of $407,268.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 785,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,829,584. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $86.45 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $90.67 and a 200 day moving average of $85.54. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $98.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 665.07 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.Griffon’s revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 676.92%.

Griffon Company 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.