Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Griffon Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $68.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon has a 1 year low of $38.33 and a 1 year high of $77.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Griffon will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,020 shares of company stock valued at $16,722,924 over the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter worth about $65,000. 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.