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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Griffon Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $84.30 on Monday. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.62 and a 200-day moving average of $67.63.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 112.1% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,800,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth $7,433,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.