Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Boosts Stake in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,458 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,581 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.74% of Griffon worth $24,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 97.4% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,258 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 25,790 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Griffon in the first quarter worth about $1,265,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 77.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,510,000 after purchasing an additional 51,004 shares in the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $1,547,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $1,135,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total value of $755,965.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 790,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,889,599.04. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525 in the last 90 days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $86.45 on Friday. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.01 and a fifty-two week high of $98.36. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 665.07 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.52.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 676.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.