Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 19,644 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.78% of Griffon worth $88,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GFF. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $557,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $787,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,013,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after acquiring an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $1,830,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $68.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.34. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $38.33 and a 52 week high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $222,211.74. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 750,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,568,548.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $222,211.74. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 750,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,568,548.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 20,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $1,409,651.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,195,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,681,121.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,560 shares of company stock worth $15,290,160 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon 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.