Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP decreased its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 41.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,402 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 14,163 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Griffon by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 5.3% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted 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 worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.2% in 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $18,216,389.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE GFF opened at $82.66 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $47.83 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

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.