Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel Sells 1,205 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 1,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total transaction of $84,482.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 754,046 shares in the company, valued at $52,866,165.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $68.82 on Thursday. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.34. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.29. 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). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The firm had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,531,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $787,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $324,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $786,000. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,282,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.