Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 15,258 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 97.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,957 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 15,258 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC owned 0.06% of Griffon worth $2,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GFF. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Griffon by 228.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,291 shares in the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Griffon by 50.0% in the second quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,089,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on GFF shares. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $75.72. 336,584 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,480. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 1.39. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $73.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $641.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders 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%. This is a boost from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at $52,307,566.66. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 474,622 shares of company stock valued at $34,819,512 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

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.