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

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

Griffon Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.94. The company had a trading volume of 682,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,178. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 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 posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $647.80 million during 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%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Griffon by 65.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.