OP Asset Management Ltd Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in Griffon Corporation $GFF

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,291 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,547,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,299 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 790,352 shares in the company, valued at $75,889,599.04. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 124,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,874,898 in the last ninety days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $96.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 741.37 and a beta of 1.42. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $89.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.03. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $97.70.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 676.92%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GFF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.