Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the February 13th total of 2,200,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 363,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Griffon Stock Down 0.3 %

GFF stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $71.64. 96,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 396,162. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in Griffon by 116.1% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

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.