Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Update

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the August 31st total of 1,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 475,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 39,247 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $2,748,467.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,221,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,571,574.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,720 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,903. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Griffon by 486.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $20,531,000. Lodge Hill Capital LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,074,000 after buying an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth $7,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.47. The company had a trading volume of 282,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,849. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.83%.

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.