Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Sells $2,748,467.41 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 39,247 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $2,748,467.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,221,499 shares in the company, valued at $155,571,574.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Griffon Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded up $2.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $69.93. The stock had a trading volume of 682,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,178. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.34 and its 200 day moving average is $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. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $38.33 and a 52 week high of $77.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $65,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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 reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.