New York State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stake in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of Griffon worth $5,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the third quarter valued at $502,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 120.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after acquiring an additional 89,948 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Griffon by 5.9% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,386,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Griffon by 6.9% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 23,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,670 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,035. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $75.03 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

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

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.