Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.50, with a volume of 374 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.52.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 16.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stephens raised their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Down 3.9 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 578,082 shares of company stock valued at $40,777,353 over the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Griffon by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Griffon by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Company 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.