Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Receives $89.25 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.25.

A number of research firms have weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens upped their price target on 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 Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $83.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $86.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during 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 revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 0.7% in 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 last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Griffon by 1.4% in the second 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Griffon by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after buying an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% 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.