Insider Selling: Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Sells $1,409,651.35 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 20,135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $1,409,651.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,195,131 shares in the company, valued at $153,681,121.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $69.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.37. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Griffon by 65.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter worth about $65,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Griffon Company 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.