Walleye Capital LLC Invests $1.14 Million in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,615 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Voss Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $129,624,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,088,000 after purchasing an additional 11,169 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,835,000 after acquiring an additional 293,278 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Griffon by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,869,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after buying an additional 51,354 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GFF. Weiss Ratings cut Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 790,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,889,599.04. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $90.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 697.11 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.07. Griffon Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.01 and a twelve month high of $98.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. The company’s revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 676.92%.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.