Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GFF. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a 1-year low of $44.71 and a 1-year high of $80.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.82.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 199,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,203,342.80. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,074,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter valued at $7,433,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Griffon by 120.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 89,948 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.