Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Kevin F. Sullivan Sells 9,222 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Griffon Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $3.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.34. The stock had a trading volume of 644,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,823. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $80.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP increased 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 acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at about $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.