Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,675 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,403 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.18% of Griffon worth $5,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Griffon by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,861,000 after buying an additional 2,131 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,354,467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $82,557,000 after acquiring an additional 30,710 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $20,531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,203,342.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,203,342.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon 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 owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,012 shares of company stock valued at $9,603,684. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Griffon Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $67.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.14 and a 200-day moving average of $67.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

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.