MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,331 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Griffon were worth $1,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at $367,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Griffon by 6.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,761 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Griffon by 430.9% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 23,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,673,000 after buying an additional 19,396 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 33.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,335,000 after buying an additional 19,291 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after acquiring an additional 33,002 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $80.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.94. Griffon Co. has a one year low of $49.61 and a one year high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.39.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total transaction of $63,894.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares in the company, valued at $52,307,566.66. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 608,017 shares of company stock valued at $43,198,576 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

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.