Point72 Asset Management L.P. Has $33.14 Million Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 74.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.96% of Griffon worth $33,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GFF. Quarry LP boosted its position 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 stake in Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at about $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.40. 266,125 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,265. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.39. 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 twelve month low of $49.61 and a twelve month high of $86.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.02.

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, 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 company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 613,187 shares of company stock worth $43,614,141 in the last quarter. Insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens raised 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. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a 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 MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.