Vise Technologies Inc. Takes Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Key Points

• Vise Technologies acquired 20,357 shares of Griffon during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.985 million. Institutional investors now own 73.22% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with Griffon receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $122.50. Recent targets include $125 from Robert W. Baird and $120 from Stephens.
• Griffon exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.51 in EPS versus the $1.34 consensus and revenue of $481.37 million, although revenue declined 21.5% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, a 0.9% yield.

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 20,357 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,985,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the first quarter worth approximately $1,265,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 42.9% in the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 415,531 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $30,201,000 after acquiring an additional 124,750 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth $1,547,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Griffon by 29.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,910 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 10,094 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Griffon by 77.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,092 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $8,510,000 after acquiring an additional 51,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GFF. Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.50.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $100.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64 and a beta of 1.44. Griffon Corporation has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $108.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.48.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $481.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $457.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.16, for a total transaction of $347,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 723,032 shares in the company, valued at $77,480,109.12. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 298,757 shares of company stock worth $29,818,460 in the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Griffon Company Profile

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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