Head-To-Head Analysis: ITT (NYSE:ITT) vs. Griffon (NYSE:GFF)

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) and ITT (NYSE:ITT) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Griffon and ITT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Griffon	$2.52 billion	1.41	$51.11 million	$1.00	77.06
ITT	$3.81 billion	3.55	$518.30 million	$6.02	28.86

ITT has higher revenue and earnings than Griffon. ITT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Griffon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.2% of Griffon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of ITT shares are held by institutional investors. 10.2% of Griffon shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of ITT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Griffon and ITT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Griffon	1	1	3	2	2.86
ITT	0	0	10	0	3.00

Griffon presently has a consensus target price of $95.60, indicating a potential upside of 24.05%. ITT has a consensus target price of $207.13, indicating a potential upside of 19.22%. Given Griffon’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Griffon is more favorable than ITT.

Dividends

Griffon pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. ITT pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Griffon pays out 88.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ITT pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Griffon has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and ITT has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Griffon has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ITT has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Griffon and ITT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Griffon	2.03%	181.66%	11.95%
ITT	12.67%	18.96%	10.43%

Summary

ITT beats Griffon on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The segment also sells related products, such as garage door openers. The Consumer and Professional Products segment manufactures and markets long-handled engineered tools, including spades, hoes, cultivators, weeders, post hole diggers, scrapers, edgers and forks; wheelbarrows and lawn carts; snow tools comprising pushers, roof rakes, sled sleigh shovels, scoops, and ice scrapers; and pruning products, such as pruners, loppers, shears, and other tools. The segment also offers striking tools, including axes, picks, mattocks, mauls, wood splitters, sledgehammers, pry bars, and repair handles; traditional and gardening hand tools comprising hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, adjustable wrenches, handsaws, tape measures, levels, clamps, trowels, cultivators, weeders, and other hand tools; indoor and outdoor planters and lawn accessories; and garden hoses and hose reels. In addition, the segment provides home organization products, including wire and wood shelving, containers, storage cabinets, and other closet and home organization accessories; residential, industrial, and commercial fans; and cleaning products, such as brooms, brushes, squeegees, and other cleaning products. The company was formerly known as Instrument Systems Corporation and changed its name to Griffon Corporation in June 1992. Griffon Corporation was founded in 1774 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About ITT

ITT Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets in the United States and internationally. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains. This segment sells its products under ITT Friction Technologies, KONI, Wolverine Advanced Materials, Axtone, Novitek, and GALT. brand names. The Industrial Process segment provides industrial pumps, valves, and plant optimization and remote monitoring systems and services; and aftermarket solutions, such as replacement parts and services. It serves various customers in industries, such as chemical, energy, mining, and other industrial process markets. This segment sells its products under Goulds Pumps, Bornemann, Engineered Valves, PRO Services, C'treat, i-ALERT, Rheinhütte Pumpen, and Habonim brand names. The Connect & Control Technologies segment designs and manufactures a range of engineered connectors and specialized products for critical applications supporting various markets, including aerospace and defense, industrial, transportation, medical, and energy. This segment provides connector products, such as circular, rectangular, radio frequency, fiber optic, D-sub miniature, micro-miniature, and cable assemblies; and control products consist of highly engineered actuation, flow control, energy absorption, environmental control, and composite component solutions for the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets under Cannon, VEAM, BIW Connector Systems, Aerospace Controls, Enidine, Compact Automation, Neo-Dyn Process Controls, Conoflow, and Micro-Mode brand names. The company was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.