Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Raises Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,497 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 28,731 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.47% of Griffon worth $16,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,769 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Griffon by 283.2% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,380 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,089,000. Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the third quarter worth approximately $377,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the third quarter valued at approximately $377,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total transaction of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,203,342.80. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $79.34 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $80.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

About Griffon

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.