Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 6,525 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,525 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $3,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its stake in Griffon by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,089,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Griffon by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,423,000 after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Trading Up 1.5 %

GFF opened at $70.47 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.59 and a 200-day moving average of $72.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.