Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued 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 $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $70.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.34. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $454,406,000 after buying an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,582,000 after buying an additional 236,179 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,914,000 after buying an additional 93,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.