Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 53.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,693 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after acquiring an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Griffon by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,350,000 after buying an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Griffon by 112.1% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Griffon by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 270,805 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,294,000 after buying an additional 16,740 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total transaction of $63,894.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. This trade represents a 19.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 578,082 shares of company stock worth $40,777,353. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $77.40 on Friday. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $44.03 and a one year high of $80.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

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.