Robert F. Mehmel Sells 15,108 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 15,108 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.98, for a total transaction of $1,011,933.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 797,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,437,045.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $67.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.34. 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 (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results 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). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

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.