Inspire Investing LLC Cuts Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,310 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GFF. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Griffon by 64.5% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 388.3% during the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 31,381 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 24,954 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 228.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $2,716,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 238,100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,205,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Trading Down 3.0 %

GFF opened at $67.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $38.33 and a 52 week high of $77.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,799 shares of company stock worth $10,825,347 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.