Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 173,682 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 255.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,682 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.53% of Griffon worth $17,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after buying an additional 293,278 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $21,070,000. Voss Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $129,624,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 166.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after purchasing an additional 202,714 shares during the period. Finally, Congruence Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $11,985,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total transaction of $407,268.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 785,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF stock opened at $89.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 686.13 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $98.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The business had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 676.92%.

Griffon 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.