Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Up 14.6% in July

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, an increase of 14.6% from the June 30th total of 2,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 467,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.84. 55,367 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,129. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.79 and its 200-day moving average is $67.22. Griffon has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.78.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.51. Griffon had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 90.02%. The firm had revenue of $672.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.22 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total transaction of $869,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth $1,728,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,433,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.