SPC Financial Inc. Sells 4,020 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

SPC Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,602 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,020 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Griffon by 671.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rock Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Griffon by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.78. 393,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,515. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $38.33 and a 1-year high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $672.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.22 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 90.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Insider Activity

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

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.