Aberdeen Group plc Has $15.76 Million Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Aberdeen Group plc cut its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,737 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 15,080 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.45% of Griffon worth $15,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 15.8% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 43.4% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 539 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,329 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price objective on Griffon in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, CJS Securities raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 119,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $295,180.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $89.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 97.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.03 and a 200-day moving average of $77.34. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $63.92 and a 1-year high of $97.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 95.65%.

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.