Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Acquires New Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GFF. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 671.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rock Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Griffon Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded up $0.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.44. The stock had a trading volume of 17,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,112. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.33 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.11.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $672.88 million for 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%. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors 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 yield of 0.96%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total transaction of $869,440.00. Following 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. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.