Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart Sells 767 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $25,103.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,366.76. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $84.29 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap 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.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Griffon during the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.