Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stake in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 18.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 547,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $39,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,835,000 after purchasing an additional 293,278 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter worth about $21,070,000. Voss Capital LP grew its position in Griffon by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 166.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,715,000 after buying an additional 202,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congruence Capital LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,985,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GFF. Weiss Ratings lowered Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

Griffon Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of GFF opened at $93.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.01 and a 1-year high of $98.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 715.87 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.26.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its 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 firm 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 was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 676.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 790,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,889,599.04. This trade represents a 0.99% 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. Insiders sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525 in the last three months. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon 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.