Arizona State Retirement System Has $707,000 Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Griffon were worth $707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Sage Rock Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at about $98,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Four 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 a consensus price target of $81.50.

Griffon Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of GFF opened at $66.84 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The firm had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.83%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon 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.