Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,767 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.17% of Griffon worth $5,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Griffon by 486.0% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,834,000 after purchasing an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,531,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,074,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,433,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $68.82 on Thursday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $222,211.74. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 750,872 shares in the company, valued at $52,568,548.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,560 shares of company stock worth $15,290,160 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 16.10% 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.