Robert F. Mehmel Sells 1,205 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 1,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total value of $84,482.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 754,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,866,165.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Griffon Stock Performance

Griffon stock opened at $69.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.33.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,531,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $787,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $324,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $786,000. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $1,282,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.