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

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $73.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.82. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $44.71 and a 12 month high of $80.85.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens raised their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Griffon by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 18,256 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 353.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 11,787 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Griffon by 46.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth about $640,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.