US Bancorp DE Grows Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 70.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Griffon were worth $132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Griffon by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Griffon by 62.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 18,256 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Griffon by 353.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,787 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Griffon by 46.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the first quarter valued at about $640,000. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. This trade represents a 19.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 606,742 shares of company stock valued at $42,931,300. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of GFF stock opened at $73.80 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $44.71 and a 1 year high of $80.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board 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 given a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.18%.

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.