Griffon (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert Mehmel Sells 15,928 Shares of Stock

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert Mehmel sold 15,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.35, for a total transaction of $1,709,870.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 732,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,677,995.85. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Griffon Trading Up 1.9%

Griffon stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.81. The company had a trading volume of 307,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,639. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.01 and a 1-year high of $108.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.24.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%.The company had revenue of $481.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Griffon by 149.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Griffon by 362.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth about $37,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

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.