Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,497 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 28,731 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.47% of Griffon worth $16,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $18,216,389.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % 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, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,307,566.66. The trade was a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Stock Up 2.4 %

GFF traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.28. 480,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,007. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $82.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.69 and a 200 day moving average of $67.10.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $641.24 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.18%.

Griffon declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.