Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GFF. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Up 0.3 %

GFF opened at $74.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.86. Griffon has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $80.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.18%.

Griffon announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 606,742 shares of company stock valued at $42,931,300. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GFF. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Griffon by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Griffon by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 1.3% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Griffon by 2.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.