ClearAlpha Technologies LP Trims Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ClearAlpha Technologies LP lessened its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,289 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,122 shares during the quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth about $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. 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 acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 1.9 %

GFF stock opened at $82.66 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $47.83 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.38.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 41,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock worth $43,198,576. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GFF. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.