JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 32,404 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 638,422 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 32,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.33% of Griffon worth $44,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 228.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 125.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 9,701 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $108,914,000 after acquiring an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barington Capital Group L.P. grew its position in Griffon by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Trading Down 0.9 %

GFF stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $72.22. The company had a trading volume of 303,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,278. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.74 and a 200-day moving average of $69.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $52,307,566.66. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 6,532 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 $457,631.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,169,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $152,006,870.02. This represents a 0.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 372,614 shares of company stock valued at $27,700,272. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.