Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.33.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 580,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,103. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.53 and its 200-day moving average is $67.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 90.02% and a net margin of 7.48%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Griffon

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $1,249,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $236,000. 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.