Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 11,673 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,801 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,673 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,089,000. Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Griffon by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Griffon by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF opened at $83.57 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.32. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change 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 0.86%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,203,342.80. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506 in the last quarter. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.