Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the conglomerate on Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th.

Griffon has increased its dividend payment by an average of 24.1% per year over the last three years. Griffon has a payout ratio of 11.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Griffon to earn $6.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.3%.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.00. The company had a trading volume of 314,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,950. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.98. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon 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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 368,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,421,146. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

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.