Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart Sells 3,710 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 3,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 32,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 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 Price Performance

GFF opened at $84.30 on Monday. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month 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. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.63.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after acquiring an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Griffon by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 3.6% during the third 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. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after buying an additional 34,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.