James W. Sight Sells 3,660 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF traded down $3.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $73.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 569,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,113. Griffon Co. has a 52 week low of $44.71 and a 52 week high of $80.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.78.

Griffon announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after buying an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after buying an additional 34,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Griffon Company 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.