Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 35,961 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 84.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,498 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,961 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.16% of Griffon worth $5,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GFF. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $375,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Griffon by 659.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 26,452 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its position in Griffon by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,764,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,203,342.80. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 608,017 shares of company stock worth $43,198,576 in the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $84.30 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.