Insider Selling: Griffon (NYSE:GFF) COO Sells 4,726 Shares of Stock

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert Mehmel sold 4,726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.46, for a total transaction of $451,143.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 798,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,198,558.50. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Griffon Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE GFF traded up $0.65 on Friday, hitting $96.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,269,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 742.86 and a beta of 1.42. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $97.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.71.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 676.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 2.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,576 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 341,458 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,817,000 after purchasing an additional 17,581 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 164,673 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,968,000 after purchasing an additional 12,642 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 255.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,570,000 after buying an additional 173,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Griffon by 27.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 9,049 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GFF. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

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.