Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF opened at $77.32 on Friday. Griffon has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.50 and a 200-day moving average of $71.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.69%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,670 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,035 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GFF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $44,505,000 after buying an additional 623,803 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $43,325,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.