Millennium Management LLC Trims Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Millennium Management LLC trimmed its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 362,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 96,852 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.73% of Griffon worth $23,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Griffon by 3.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $218,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,178,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,482,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 253,020 shares of company stock worth $16,722,924. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $69.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $38.33 and a 12 month high of $77.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.35.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

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.