Boston Partners Reduces Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Boston Partners trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 0.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 275,307 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,356 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Griffon were worth $19,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.5% during the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,899,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Griffon by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

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 Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total value of $869,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of Griffon stock traded down $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 503,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,738. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.34. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $672.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.22 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 90.02% and a net margin of 7.48%. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Griffon Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.