Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, an increase of 29.0% from the October 15th total of 2,070,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 403,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $44.71 and a fifty-two week high of $80.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.53 and its 200 day moving average is $66.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders 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 represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.