Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 6,675 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,891 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,675 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $3,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after purchasing an additional 293,278 shares in the last quarter. Voss Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 166.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Congruence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $11,985,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 430,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,760,000 after purchasing an additional 134,987 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,272 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.40, for a total value of $312,148.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 806,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,941,626.40. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,773 shares of company stock valued at $10,327,734. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $94.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.85. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $97.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 724.46 and a beta of 1.42.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $414.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 676.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.