W. Christopher Durborow Sells 5,170 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE GFF traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.40. 266,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 435,265. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $49.61 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $71.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.02. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

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

Griffon announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GFF shares. Stephens raised their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company 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 report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 56.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company's stock.

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.

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