Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel Sells 25,000 Shares

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 25,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.97, for a total value of $1,874,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 712,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,447,162.58. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $73.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $44.71 and a 1 year high of $80.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,300,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Griffon by 79.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,658 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 11.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 16,301 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.25.

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.