Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells $25,103.91 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $25,103.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,366.76. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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 transaction of $380,070.00.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GFF traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.30. The stock had a trading volume of 205,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,414. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average 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 market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 lifted their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the first quarter worth about $375,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 659.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 26,452 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,764,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by 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.