Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 1,651 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 120.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,023 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Griffon by 86.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Griffon by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $74.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.14 and its 200 day moving average is $70.81. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Griffon announced 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 buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746. Insiders own 10.20% 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.