Seven Eight Capital LP Trims Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Seven Eight Capital LP reduced its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 78.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,427 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 23,598 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Griffon by 486.0% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,834,000 after purchasing an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $20,531,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $16,829,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $9,403,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Griffon by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 529,181 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,254,000 after acquiring an additional 97,390 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,725,034.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total transaction of $869,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,851.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at $167,725,034.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of GFF stock traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $69.98. The company had a trading volume of 359,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,455. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.78. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.75.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $672.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.22 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 90.02% and a net margin of 7.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.