Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 14,400 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 14,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Griffon worth $8,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 116.1% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $136,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Down 3.4%

GFF opened at $67.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.75. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.23 million. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Griffon’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GFF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $98.20.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.