Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,127 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Griffon by 228.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,954,000 after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 125.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 9,701 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after acquiring an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barington Capital Group L.P. grew its holdings in Griffon by 50.0% in the second quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 30,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $78.42 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.72 and a 200-day moving average of $70.13. Griffon Co. has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. 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 authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746 over the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Griffon

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.