Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Stock Holdings Lowered by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,879 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,381 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 34,525 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 grew its position in Griffon by 21.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $24,423,000 after purchasing an additional 61,399 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total transaction of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at $3,108,184. This represents a 18.30 % 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,892 shares of company stock worth $1,734,296. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on GFF shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $76.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. Griffon Co. has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be 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 is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.69%.

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.