Insider Selling: Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells 3,710 Shares of Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 3,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.22, for a total value of $60,176.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $530,913.04. This trade represents a 10.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Victor Eugene Renuart also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 26th, Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GFF traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.30. 205,642 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 439,414. 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 current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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 dividend yield of 0.85%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 6.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Griffon by 9.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,389 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Griffon by 97.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,167,000 after buying an additional 15,258 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the third quarter worth $239,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Griffon during the third quarter worth $9,800,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.