Cynosure Group LLC Buys Shares of 5,239 Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,239 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Griffon by 1.4% during the second 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,525 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Griffon by 6.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 270,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,294,000 after purchasing an additional 16,740 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $83.51 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.43.

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 company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $18,216,389.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.