Griffon Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 (NYSE:GFF)

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the conglomerate on Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th.

Griffon has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.1% annually over the last three years. Griffon has a payout ratio of 11.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Griffon to earn $6.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.3%.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF stock opened at $80.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.43. Griffon has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted 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 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

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

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.