Strs Ohio Raises Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 130.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 37,100 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Griffon were worth $4,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Voss Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,535,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $116,890,000 after purchasing an additional 185,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 396.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,088 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,867,000 after purchasing an additional 52,786 shares during the period. MHR Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon during the third quarter worth about $9,519,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Griffon by 97.4% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,258 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,849,000 after buying an additional 25,790 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Griffon by 6.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 427,674 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,567,000 after buying an additional 25,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Griffon Trading Up 0.1%

GFF traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,637. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.64. 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 $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 715.25 and a beta of 1.41. Griffon Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.01 and a twelve month high of $98.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,365,471.24. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total transaction of $407,268.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 785,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525 in the last 90 days. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.