Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Griffon were worth $3,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 9.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Griffon by 6.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 270,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,294,000 after purchasing an additional 16,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodge Hill Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $85.22 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.22. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GFF. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Griffon 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.