Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.09% of Griffon worth $3,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Griffon by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 1.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Griffon by 2.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Griffon by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $18,216,389.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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 upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $85.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $86.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.22. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

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.