Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

GFF has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $68.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Griffon has a 1-year low of $38.33 and a 1-year high of $77.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.35.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were 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 owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,720 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,903. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.5% during the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.3% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Griffon by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,074 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Company 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.