57,790 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Bought by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 57,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,238,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $487,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $640,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 353.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 11,787 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF traded up $2.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $71.81. The company had a trading volume of 325,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,084. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Griffon had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 90.02%. The company had revenue of $672.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

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.