Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires New Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $315,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 194.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,149 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in Griffon by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Griffon by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $62.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.57. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.33.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 125,447 shares of company stock worth $8,385,495 in the last three months. Company insiders own 16.10% 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.