Aberdeen Group plc Sells 15,080 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,737 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 15,080 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Griffon were worth $15,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Voss Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the second quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,350,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,700,000 after acquiring an additional 17,949 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Griffon by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $52,037,000 after purchasing an additional 51,354 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 554,431 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,068,000 after purchasing an additional 4,091 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 295,657 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $21,397,000 after purchasing an additional 101,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 4.4% during the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 295,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $21,365,000 after buying an additional 12,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price objective on Griffon in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was 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 owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $89.75 on Thursday. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $63.92 and a one year high of $97.58. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 97.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.03 and a 200-day moving average of $77.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.65%.

About Griffon

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.