Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 18,656 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,902 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,656 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $19,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth about $590,633,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at about $40,177,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth about $36,536,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 41.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter worth approximately $21,070,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GFF opened at $99.57 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.45. Griffon Corporation has a 12-month low of $65.01 and a 12-month high of $108.57. 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 (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.70 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%.The company’s revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $369,565.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.16, for a total transaction of $347,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 723,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,480,109.12. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 298,757 shares of company stock worth $29,818,460 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.