Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CFO Brian G. Harris Sells 13,314 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,342.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Performance

Griffon stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 375,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,479. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be paid 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 yield of 0.89%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $315,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 0.4% during 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 grew its holdings in Griffon by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,354,467 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $82,557,000 after buying an additional 30,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,531,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.