ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC Decreases Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lessened its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 7,500 shares during the quarter. Griffon comprises about 4.9% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Griffon worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Griffon by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $40,350,000 after buying an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Griffon by 7.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $36,395,000 after buying an additional 34,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.08. The stock had a trading volume of 423,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,455. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.33. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $51.32 and a one year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.39. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analysts' expectations of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 613,187 shares of company stock worth $43,614,141. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.