7,736 Shares in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Acquired by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,736 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Griffon by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Griffon by 70.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE GFF opened at $72.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.86. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Finally, Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.