Quest Partners LLC trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 77.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,945 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 6,679 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Griffon were worth $136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $88,066,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $40,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $18,123,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 6.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 270,805 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $17,294,000 after acquiring an additional 16,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodge Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 190.3% during the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $16,074,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
GFF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens raised their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $89.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on GFF
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total transaction of $63,894.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sold 608,017 shares of company stock worth $43,198,576 over the last three months. Insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.
Griffon Stock Performance
Shares of GFF traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 205,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,414. 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 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.
Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Griffon Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.
Griffon announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
About Griffon
(
Free Report)
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.
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