Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF stock opened at $84.41 on Friday. Griffon has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million during 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 for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,899,970. This represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its position in Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth about $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter worth about $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Griffon during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.