Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $1.99 Million in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 20,357 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,985,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth about $590,633,000. Voss Capital LP lifted its position in Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $129,624,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $113,088,000 after purchasing an additional 11,169 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 41.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Griffon by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,869,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock opened at $100.52 on Friday. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.01 and a 1-year high of $108.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.48.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.70 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.16, for a total transaction of $347,198.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 723,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,480,109.12. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $318,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,187,738.68. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 298,757 shares of company stock valued at $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.