Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 12,177 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,038 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,177 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $5,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,598,353 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $97,420,000 after purchasing an additional 289,208 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,952,411 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $236,132,000 after acquiring an additional 77,058 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,801 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Griffon by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 221,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,795,000 after acquiring an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $842,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total value of $134,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,269,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of GFF opened at $67.45 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $27.45 and a 1-year high of $75.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.34 and a beta of 1.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 72.80% and a net margin of 2.65%. The business had revenue of $643.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.