Robert F. Mehmel Sells 15,108 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 15,108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.98, for a total value of $1,011,933.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 797,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,437,045.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.61. The stock had a trading volume of 375,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,479. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.02 and its 200 day moving average is $67.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after acquiring an additional 19,644 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 486.0% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.