Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Raises Stake in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 341,458 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 17,581 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $24,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after buying an additional 293,278 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at $21,070,000. Voss Capital LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $129,624,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 166.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after acquiring an additional 202,714 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 255.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,570,000 after acquiring an additional 173,682 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $86.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $90.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.52. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.01 and a 1 year high of $98.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 665.07 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 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 company had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 676.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

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.