Strs Ohio Increases Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 130.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,100 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned about 0.14% of Griffon worth $4,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total value of $755,965.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 790,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,889,599.04. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $93.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,637. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.64. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.01 and a 1 year high of $98.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 715.25 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 676.92%.

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.