Jennison Associates LLC Sells 80,024 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 24.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 248,407 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 80,024 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $18,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Voss Capital LP raised its position in shares of Griffon by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Griffon by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,088,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Griffon by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after acquiring an additional 293,278 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Griffon by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after acquiring an additional 51,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 790,352 shares in the company, valued at $75,889,599.04. The trade was a 0.99% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Griffon Stock Down 0.2%

GFF opened at $88.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 683.61 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. Griffon Corporation has a 52 week low of $65.01 and a 52 week high of $98.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.82.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued 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 was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 676.92%.

Griffon 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.