ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC Has $3.56 Million Stock Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the period. Griffon accounts for 4.1% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC owned about 0.10% of Griffon worth $3,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after acquiring an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Griffon by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $36,395,000 after acquiring an additional 34,525 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted 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 worth $24,423,000 after buying an additional 61,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $76.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20 and a beta of 1.43. Griffon Co. has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.