Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stake Lifted by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 97.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 15,258 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $2,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Griffon by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Griffon by 5.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Griffon by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 474,622 shares of company stock worth $34,819,512 over the last three months. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $78.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.14 and a 200-day moving average of $68.68. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon 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.