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

StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Down 4.6 %

NYSE GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. Griffon has a 52 week low of $44.71 and a 52 week high of $80.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.82.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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 yield of 0.98%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.18%.

Griffon declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. This trade represents a 19.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 14.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 18,256 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 353.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,787 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Griffon by 46.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $640,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Griffon

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.