Insider Selling: Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Sells 39,247 Shares of Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 39,247 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was 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 owns 2,221,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $155,571,574.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $69.94 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:GFF) last announced 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). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP increased 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 acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.