Summit Global Investments Sells 1,897 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Summit Global Investments decreased its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,522 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,897 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments owned about 0.05% of Griffon worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,598,353 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,420,000 after acquiring an additional 289,208 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,952,411 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $236,132,000 after purchasing an additional 77,058 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 10.1% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,801 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Griffon by 32.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 221,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,795,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Griffon in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $842,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Up 0.6 %

Griffon stock traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $69.13. 250,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,122. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.34 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $29.11 and a 1 year high of $75.18.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 72.80% and a net margin of 2.65%. The company had revenue of $643.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total transaction of $134,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,269,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Griffon Company 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.