Jupiter Topco LLC Purchases Shares of 249,990 Griffon Corporation $GFF

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 249,990 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $24,381,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,265,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 415,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,201,000 after purchasing an additional 124,750 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,264,000 after purchasing an additional 10,094 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,547,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,332,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 22,209 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total value of $2,267,094.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 763,691 shares in the company, valued at $77,957,577.28. This represents a 2.83% 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 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $29,818,460 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GFF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Griffon Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $99.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $108.57.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.70 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

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.