Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. CJS Securities raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 target price on Griffon in a report on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the sale, the director owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,792.80. This represents a 18.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 10.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voss Capital LP grew its holdings in Griffon by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $129,624,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,088,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,835,000 after buying an additional 293,278 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Griffon by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Griffon by 7.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after acquiring an additional 51,354 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF opened at $71.28 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Griffon has a one year low of $63.92 and a one year high of $97.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 228.83%. The business had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.65%.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.