Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Given Strong-Buy Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their strong-buy rating on shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a $95.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their prior target price of $92.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on GFF. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Griffon Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $80.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.43. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $18,216,389.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,207,211.10. The trade was a 11.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total transaction of $380,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,631,091.52. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GFF. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Griffon by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after acquiring an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,325,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,358,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Griffon by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after purchasing an additional 202,685 shares during the period. 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.