Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF opened at $68.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.47 and a 200-day moving average of $72.16. Griffon has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $454,406,000 after buying an additional 177,771 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,582,000 after purchasing an additional 236,179 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $49,914,000 after purchasing an additional 93,100 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.