Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.14. The company had a trading volume of 96,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,217. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. Griffon has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.95.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GFF. Stephens increased their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted 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.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total transaction of $4,706,853.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 8,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.10, for a total value 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 $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. Insiders sold a total of 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746 over the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.