Citigroup Inc. Boosts Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 33,002 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Griffon worth $4,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Griffon by 228.7% during the second 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 659.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 26,452 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its stake in Griffon by 125.6% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares in the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. raised its stake in Griffon by 50.0% during the second quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Griffon during the third quarter valued at $2,089,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576 in the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF remained flat at $82.82 during trading on Wednesday. 171,179 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 436,902. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $48.96 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.83.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is 17.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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