Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Takes Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 140,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $9,800,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB owned about 0.29% of Griffon as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 228.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,954,000 after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 659.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 26,452 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in Griffon by 125.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 9,701 shares during the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. grew its holdings in Griffon by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,916,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter worth $2,089,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GFF traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $79.00. The stock had a trading volume of 253,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,362. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 1.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $72.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.41. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $52.04 and a 12-month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors 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. This is a positive change from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 746,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 513,187 shares of company stock valued at $37,388,141. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.