Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.50, with a volume of 374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.52.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 14.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Down 4.6 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 9.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 7.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $36,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,525 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Company Profile

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.