Insider Selling: Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Sells $49,841.22 in Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 2,442 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $49,841.22. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,259.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00.

Griffon Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $84.30 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.