Deutsche Bank AG Acquires New Holdings in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 42,751 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $4,170,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 20.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,955 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,790,000 after buying an additional 15,925 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,447 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,047 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 85,035 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,080,000 after acquiring an additional 14,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth $57,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,684,297 shares in the company, valued at $172,505,698.74. The trade was a 5.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $29,818,460. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GFF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on Griffon in a research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $122.50.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $101.48 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $95.13 and a 200-day moving average of $87.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 1.44. Griffon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.01 and a fifty-two week high of $108.57.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given 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 is 22.45%.

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.