Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $10.57 Million Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,283 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 17,001 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. owned 0.31% of Griffon worth $10,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 343.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Griffon by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $70.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.