Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $12.43 Million Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,500 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 34,600 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.36% of Griffon worth $12,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 86.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 74.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 84.5% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 78,498 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,495,000 after buying an additional 35,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.1% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 86,767 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $6,074,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of Griffon 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 owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,899,970. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 613,187 shares of company stock worth $43,614,141 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company's stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.07. 334,123 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,077. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.24. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $51.32 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 1.39.

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 firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $89.25.

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.