Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys Shares of 27,623 Griffon Corporation $GFF

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 27,623 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,694,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GFF. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,299 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Griffon by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Griffon by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $101.47 on Wednesday. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $108.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.38 and a 200 day moving average of $87.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. The company had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 22,209 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total value of $2,267,094.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 763,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,957,577.28. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $29,818,460. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GFF. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 target price on Griffon in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $122.50.

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.