Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $100.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Griffon traded as high as $81.20 and last traded at $81.14, with a volume of 19578 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.37.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GFF. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 25,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.97, for a total value of $1,874,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 712,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,447,162.58. This trade represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 353.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,123 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 11,787 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 46.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,880 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $487,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $68.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Griffon’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Griffon Co. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.18%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.