Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $88.80 and traded as high as $98.36. Griffon shares last traded at $97.6680, with a volume of 402,357 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GFF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Griffon from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Griffon Trading Down 0.1%

The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.92.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. The company had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 22.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $318,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,187,738.68. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.16, for a total value of $347,198.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 723,032 shares in the company, valued at $77,480,109.12. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 173,820 shares of company stock valued at $17,943,562 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter worth approximately $1,265,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its stake in Griffon by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 415,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,201,000 after buying an additional 124,750 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Griffon by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,264,000 after buying an additional 10,094 shares in the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,547,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,867,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified holding company that manufactures and distributes products for residential, commercial and industrial markets. Its operations are organized primarily around home and building products, as well as consumer and professional products, with sales in North America and international markets.

Through its building-products businesses, Griffon offers garage doors, rolling steel doors, security grilles, shutters and related access products. Its brands include Clopay, Cornell and Cookson, which serve residential, commercial and industrial customers through dealers, distributors, contractors and other channels.

Griffon’s consumer and professional products operations include garden and landscaping tools, outdoor equipment and ceiling fans.