Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells $380,070.00 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $84.30 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 56.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

About Griffon

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.