Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Strong Buy and an average price target of $69.50.

Griffon Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of GFF stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $69.13. 250,884 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 316,661. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 51.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.45. Griffon has a 1 year low of $29.11 and a 1 year high of $75.18.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $643.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.87 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 72.80% and a net margin of 2.65%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Griffon will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total value of $134,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GFF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $20,531,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,598,353 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $97,420,000 after purchasing an additional 289,208 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,829,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon during the third quarter worth $6,316,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $9,479,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.