Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,767 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Griffon were worth $6,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lodge Hill Capital LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 190.3% in the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,074,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake 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 worth $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,433,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 120.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 94.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 128,870 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 62,559 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576 in the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $84.30 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.65.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share 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. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

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

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.