Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 9,417 Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Griffon worth $15,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Griffon in the first quarter valued at about $557,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Griffon by 228.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 42,934 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 18,256 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 659.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 26,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. This represents a 19.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE GFF opened at $73.80 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a 12 month low of $44.71 and a 12 month high of $80.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.18%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.