Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373,281 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 52,307 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.78% of Griffon worth $26,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Griffon by 5.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 5,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,435,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $70.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.14. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.40.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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. Loop Capital raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

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.