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

by · The Markets Daily

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

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on GFF. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $81.50.

View Our Latest Report on Griffon

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $68.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.05. Griffon has a 12-month low of $38.33 and a 12-month high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $218,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,178,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,482,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 253,020 shares of company stock valued at $16,722,924. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth $557,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,013,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after acquiring an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Griffon by 228.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 62.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 18,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

About Griffon

(Get Free Report)

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.

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