Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Acquired by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 21.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.71% of Griffon worth $24,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 613,187 shares of company stock worth $43,614,141. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $80.28 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $51.32 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 1.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.