Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells $75,023.00 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $75,023.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $703,560.52. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Victor Eugene Renuart also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 26th, Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $84.30 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.63. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $86.73. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.