Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 9,417 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,679 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.46% of Griffon worth $15,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Griffon by 98.7% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of Griffon stock traded down $3.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.81. The company had a trading volume of 569,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,113. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.71 and a fifty-two week high of $80.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.82.

Griffon announced 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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens lifted their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.25.

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.