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

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GFF. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $73.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. Griffon has a 1-year low of $44.71 and a 1-year high of $80.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.53 and a 200-day moving average of $66.83.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. This represents a 19.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total value of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,203,342.80. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.