State of Wyoming Purchases Shares of 5,073 Griffon Corporation $GFF

State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,073 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,835,000 after buying an additional 293,278 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,070,000. Voss Capital LP raised its stake in Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 166.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after acquiring an additional 202,714 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 255.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,570,000 after purchasing an additional 173,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.42, for a total value of $10,242,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,684,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,505,698.74. The trade was a 5.60% 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 have sold a total of 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $29,818,460 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of GFF opened at $102.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.01 and a 1 year high of $108.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.97.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.50.

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.