Stifel Financial Corp Trims Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,732 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 54,086 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Griffon were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $88,066,000 after acquiring an additional 19,644 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew 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 valued at $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the third 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. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 74.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Griffon by 112.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $218,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,178,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,482,400. This trade represents a 0.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 376,119 shares of company stock worth $27,945,644. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $71.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.02 and its 200 day moving average is $69.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.38. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.