29,837 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 29,837 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $2,089,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.06% of Griffon at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lodge Hill Capital LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 190.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,433,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 128,870 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $8,230,000 after buying an additional 62,559 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.81. The stock had a trading volume of 569,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,113. The business's 50 day moving average price is $67.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.83. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $44.71 and a 1 year high of $80.85. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. The trade was a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 606,742 shares of company stock valued at $42,931,300 over the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.