Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Sells 4,828 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd cut its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,273 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,828 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd’s holdings in Griffon were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lodge Hill Capital LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,433,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 94.3% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 128,870 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,230,000 after buying an additional 62,559 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $82.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $47.83 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during 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 business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 608,017 shares of company stock worth $43,198,576 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens boosted 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.