Insider Selling: Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells 4,500 Shares of Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Griffon Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.30. 205,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 439,414. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $70.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.54.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The business had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in Griffon by 5.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Griffon by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.