Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 21.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 14,516 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Griffon worth $3,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Griffon by 0.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $88,066,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Griffon by 486.0% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 9.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $20,531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,174 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $222,211.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 750,872 shares in the company, valued at $52,568,548.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $222,211.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 750,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,568,548.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 232,560 shares of company stock valued at $15,290,160 in the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.48. The stock had a trading volume of 314,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,584. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

About Griffon

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.