Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,351 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 19,693 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Griffon were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Griffon during the third quarter worth approximately $2,089,000. Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Griffon by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,954 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 578,082 shares of company stock valued at $40,777,353 in the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $87.25.

Griffon Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $2.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.44. The stock had a trading volume of 330,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,033. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.66. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $44.71 and a 52 week high of $80.85. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.31 and its 200 day moving average is $66.78.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is a positive change 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.