Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $4.16 Million Stock Position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,362 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,274 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $4,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 86.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,452 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,729 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $77.32 on Tuesday. Griffon Co. has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,670 shares of company stock worth $1,038,035. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

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.