The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 19,147 Griffon Corporation $GFF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFFFree Report) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 19,147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth about $9,169,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,985,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GFF shares. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Griffon

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 22,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.08, for a total transaction of $2,267,094.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 763,691 shares in the company, valued at $77,957,577.28. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 298,757 shares of company stock worth $29,818,460 over the last 90 days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $97.64 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.00. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.01 and a fifty-two week high of $108.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75.

Griffon (NYSE:GFFGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $481.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.70 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%.Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.45%.

About Griffon

(Free Report)

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Griffon (NYSE:GFF)

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