Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Position Cut by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 22,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 762 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. abrdn plc bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $12,842,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $659,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,023 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $79.26 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 14.69%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 41,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,552 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,993 in the last three months. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.