Robert F. Mehmel Sells 3,265 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.04, for a total transaction of $228,680.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 747,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,362,394.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF opened at $68.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 15.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Griffon

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.