Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.48% of Griffon worth $16,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,871 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 7,935 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in Griffon by 14.3% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 229,497 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,065,000 after acquiring an additional 28,731 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Griffon by 2.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Griffon by 283.2% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter valued at about $2,089,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,108,184. The trade was a 18.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506 over the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $82.98 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $83.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 14.18%.

Griffon declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon 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.