SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 52,786 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 396.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,088 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 52,786 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $4,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Voss Capital LP boosted its holdings in Griffon by 13.7% in the third quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,535,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $116,890,000 after purchasing an additional 185,000 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Griffon by 7.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after buying an additional 51,354 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 45.7% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 430,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,760,000 after buying an additional 134,987 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 427,674 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,567,000 after buying an additional 25,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 330,697 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,183,000 after acquiring an additional 47,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. CJS Securities upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.67.

Griffon Trading Up 0.8%

Griffon stock opened at $73.25 on Thursday. Griffon Corporation has a 52 week low of $63.92 and a 52 week high of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 79.62, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.57.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $295,180.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,792.80. This represents a 18.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total transaction of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

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.