Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP reduced its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 41.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,402 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 14,163 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP's holdings in Griffon were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Griffon in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Griffon in the second quarter worth $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.46. The stock had a trading volume of 48,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,332. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.38. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $47.83 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

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

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon 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.