Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Sells 40,178 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 64.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,960 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 40,178 shares during the quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $787,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,013,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,952,411 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $236,132,000 after purchasing an additional 77,058 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $1,830,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 62.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 18,256 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded up $3.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.71. The stock had a trading volume of 468,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,016. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,234,851.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,368 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,851.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GFF shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Two research 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, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

Griffon 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.