Rhumbline Advisers Has $7.40 Million Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 5.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 115,916 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,488 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Griffon were worth $7,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 194.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,149 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in Griffon by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $66.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.43. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Griffon Profile

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.