Citigroup Inc. Decreases Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 34.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 16,191 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.07% of Griffon worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Griffon by 15.8% during the 3rd 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 Griffon by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 539 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 4.2% in the second quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Griffon by 11.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,329 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GFF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price objective on Griffon in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF stock opened at $77.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.23. Griffon Corporation has a 52 week low of $63.92 and a 52 week high of $97.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 84.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 228.83%. 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 previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 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.