Griffon Corporation $GFF Position Cut by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its holdings in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 519,064 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 16,386 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 1.11% of Griffon worth $39,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 45.7% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 430,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,760,000 after purchasing an additional 134,987 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 125.1% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 30,948 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 17,198 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 645.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 447 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP lifted its holdings in Griffon by 16.7% in the third quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 35,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,665,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Griffon by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 330,697 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,183,000 after buying an additional 47,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GFF. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 target price on Griffon in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $77.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.20. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $63.92 and a 52-week high of $97.58. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.39, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. Griffon had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 228.83%. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Company 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.