Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes Position in Griffon Corporation $GFF

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,966 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,265,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 42.9% during the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 415,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,201,000 after purchasing an additional 124,750 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 29.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after purchasing an additional 10,094 shares in the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,547,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,332,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $95.83 on Thursday. Griffon Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $108.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.97. 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 $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45 and a beta of 1.45.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.22 dividend. 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 currently 22.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the sale, the director owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 723,032 shares in the company, valued at $77,480,109.12. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. 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 298,757 shares of company stock worth $29,818,460 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.