Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stephens lifted their price target on 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 raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Griffon Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $84.41 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.22. Griffon has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 14.18%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 353.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,787 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Griffon during the first quarter worth $487,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 52.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 39.0% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 55,356 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,061,000 after buying an additional 15,538 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.