Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 19,693 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 53.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,693 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GFF. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 14.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 62.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 18,256 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 353.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 11,787 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 46.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $640,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. Stephens upped their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company 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 report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $18,216,389.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,860,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,203,342.80. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 578,082 shares of company stock worth $40,777,353. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $77.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $44.03 and a 1 year high of $80.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.