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

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 255.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 173,682 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $17,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,299 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Griffon by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Griffon by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total transaction of $407,268.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 785,900 shares in the company, valued at $76,829,584. This represents a 0.53% 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. Insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525 over the last ninety days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

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

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

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.