Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,296 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Griffon in the second quarter worth about $55,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Down 0.4 %

GFF stock opened at $73.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.99. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens raised their price target 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,119 shares of company stock valued at $27,945,644 over the last three months. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

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.