Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 94,009 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $9,169,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Griffon by 149.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter worth $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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. bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 22,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total transaction of $2,267,094.72. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 763,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,957,577.28. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $29,818,460 over the last ninety days. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Griffon Trading Up 0.9%

GFF opened at $101.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 1.44. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $108.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

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.