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

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) 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 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 represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $44.71 and a 1 year high of $80.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.83.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Griffon by 25.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,300,000 after acquiring an additional 32,427 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 79.6% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,658 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 16,301 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,423,000 after purchasing an additional 61,399 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

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.