Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $69.67 and traded as high as $77.02. Griffon shares last traded at $75.69, with a volume of 203,587 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Griffon Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.91 and a 200-day moving average of $69.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $18,216,389.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,860,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,207,211.10. This trade represents a 11.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 8,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.10, for a total transaction of $609,659.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 737,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,727,771.40. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Griffon by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 779 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.