Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 9,461 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 366,460 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,461 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.79% of Griffon worth $26,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Griffon by 20.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,955 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,790,000 after buying an additional 15,925 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,447 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 2,047 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 85,035 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,080,000 after purchasing an additional 14,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter worth $57,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 target price on Griffon in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total value of $407,268.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 785,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE:GFF opened at $93.06 on Tuesday. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.01 and a fifty-two week high of $98.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 715.87 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.26.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The business had revenue of $421.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $414.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 676.92%.

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.