Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Sells $228,680.60 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,265 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.04, for a total value of $228,680.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 747,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,362,394.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $68.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.35. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $38.33 and a 52-week high of $77.99. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 270,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,294,000 after purchasing an additional 16,740 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Griffon by 94.3% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 128,870 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 62,559 shares during the period. Barington Capital Group L.P. raised its position in Griffon by 50.0% in the second quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP raised its position in Griffon by 14.0% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 36,687 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,498 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Griffon Company 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.