Atom Investors LP Trims Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Atom Investors LP reduced its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,402 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 14,163 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 659.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 26,452 shares during the period. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its position in Griffon by 125.6% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares in the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 50.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,089,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at $52,307,566.66. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $82.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $47.83 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day moving average of $67.62.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The business had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

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.