KBC Group NV Has $123,000 Stock Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 43.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 521 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Griffon were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 86.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 368,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,421,146 over the last ninety days. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GFF. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday.

Griffon Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $79.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.00. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Equities analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

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.