Barclays PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 161,438 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 32,427 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.34% of Griffon worth $11,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GFF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $16,074,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Griffon by 112.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,433,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Griffon by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 89,948 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE:GFF traded down $2.82 on Tuesday, reaching $75.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 336,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,480. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.39. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 474,622 shares of company stock valued at $34,819,512. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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 upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.