Ronald J. Kramer Sells 67,164 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $77.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.78. Griffon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.85.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.