W. Christopher Durborow Sells 5,170 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $81.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.39. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $49.61 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP grew its stake in Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Griffon in the second quarter valued at $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.