Quantbot Technologies LP Grows Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 430.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 19,396 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GFF. Quarry LP grew its stake in Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 56.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % 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 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 value of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock worth $43,198,576. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three 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 a consensus price target of $89.25.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

GFF opened at $84.29 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. 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 0.85%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Griffon Company 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.