Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart Sells 2,900 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 2,900 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $75,023.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $703,560.52. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Victor Eugene Renuart also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 26th, Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $84.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $86.73. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.65.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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 raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens upped 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, November 14th. Three research 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, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the period. Lodge Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,074,000 after acquiring an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the third quarter worth about $9,800,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth approximately $7,433,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.