SkyView Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• SkyView Investment Advisors cut its Griffon stake by 84.5% in the second quarter, selling 16,350 shares and retaining 3,000 shares worth approximately $293,000. Institutional investors collectively own 73.22% of Griffon.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $122.50. Griffon also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $1.51 versus the $1.34 consensus.
• Griffon announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing an annualized payout of $0.88 and a yield of roughly 0.9%. Company insiders sold 186,966 shares worth about $19.2 million during the latest quarter.

SkyView Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 84.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 16,350 shares during the quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Griffon were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth $590,633,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 8,820.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,006,337 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $390,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961,427 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth $40,177,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at $36,536,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Griffon during the first quarter valued at $21,070,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.16, for a total value of $347,198.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 723,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,480,109.12. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.42, for a total value of $10,242,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,684,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $172,505,698.74. The trade was a 5.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 186,966 shares of company stock worth $19,202,839 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Down 2.3%

GFF opened at $93.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $96.33 and its 200 day moving average is $88.38. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.01 and a fifty-two week high of $108.57.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%.The business had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.45%.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation NYSE: GFF is a diversified holding company that manufactures and distributes products for residential, commercial and industrial markets. Its operations are organized primarily around home and building products, as well as consumer and professional products, with sales in North America and international markets.

Through its building-products businesses, Griffon offers garage doors, rolling steel doors, security grilles, shutters and related access products. Its brands include Clopay, Cornell and Cookson, which serve residential, commercial and industrial customers through dealers, distributors, contractors and other channels.

Griffon's consumer and professional products operations include garden and landscaping tools, outdoor equipment and ceiling fans.

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