Lodge Hill Capital LLC Takes Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Lodge Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 145,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $11,042,000. Griffon comprises approximately 2.0% of Lodge Hill Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GFF. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 151.7% in the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Griffon by 8,720.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 441 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth $37,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Griffon by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 539 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GFF. Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, CJS Securities raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $295,180.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 119,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,428,653.68. The trade was a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF stock opened at $92.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.56 and its 200-day moving average is $77.08. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $63.92 and a 1 year high of $97.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 95.65%.

About Griffon

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.