Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Grows Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,112 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Griffon were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 228.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its holdings in Griffon by 125.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 50.0% during the second quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,916,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the third quarter worth $2,089,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 484,765 shares of company stock worth $35,496,152 over the last quarter. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Griffon Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GFF opened at $78.47 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $54.74 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly 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. The business 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders 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 0.92%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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