SkyView Investment Advisors LLC Sells 16,350 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

SkyView Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 84.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 16,350 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $590,633,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Griffon by 8,820.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,006,337 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $390,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961,427 shares during the last quarter. Voss Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $129,624,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at $40,177,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $318,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,187,738.68. This represents a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 186,966 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,839. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $93.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.38. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $108.57.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.50.

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.