Ronald J. Kramer Sells 20,135 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 20,135 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $1,409,651.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,195,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,681,121.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Griffon Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GFF opened at $69.00 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $647.80 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $88,066,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 486.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $20,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

About Griffon

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.