Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director James W. Sight Sells 3,660 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $44.71 and a 12-month high of $80.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.83.

Griffon announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GFF. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Griffon by 98.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter worth $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Griffon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

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.