Griffon Corporation $GFF Shares Purchased by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of the State of Kentucky boosted its Griffon position by 165.9% in the first quarter, buying 16,307 additional shares and bringing its total to 26,137 shares worth about $1.9 million.
• Griffon reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $421.86 million, though revenue still fell 31% from a year earlier. Analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $115.
• There has also been notable insider selling, including shares sold by CEO Ronald J. Kramer and COO Robert F. Mehmel, while institutional investors still own about 73.22% of the company.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 165.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,137 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 16,307 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.06% of Griffon worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,299 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,929 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 585 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Griffon from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.00.

Griffon Trading Up 1.1%

GFF opened at $91.84 on Thursday. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $98.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 706.55 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.37.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 676.92%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total value of $407,268.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 785,900 shares in the company, valued at $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total transaction of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Griffon

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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