289,896 Shares in Griffon Corporation $GFF Bought by SEB Asset Management AB

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 289,896 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $21,070,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Griffon by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 362.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 342.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on Griffon in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $91.53 on Monday. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.01 and a 1 year high of $98.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 704.09 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.47 and its 200 day moving average is $84.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total value of $407,268.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 785,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525 over the last 90 days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.