Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Down 13.1% in November

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,320,000 shares, a drop of 13.1% from the October 31st total of 2,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 457,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 5.3% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Griffon by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $0.79 on Friday, hitting $84.30. 205,642 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,066. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Griffon has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GFF shares. Stephens upped their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.