Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells $75,023.00 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 2,900 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $75,023.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,560.52. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Victor Eugene Renuart also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 26th, Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF traded up $0.79 on Friday, hitting $84.30. The company had a trading volume of 205,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,414. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.54. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Griffon by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 5.3% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 1.3% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Griffon by 2.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.