Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Bought by Colonial River Investments LLC

Colonial River Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Griffon by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,800,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,423,000 after buying an additional 61,399 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $72.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.51. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,670 shares of company stock worth $1,038,035. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

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.