Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

Several brokerages have commented on GFF. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $27,358.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 790,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,577,713.56. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 125,223 shares of company stock worth $11,902,257 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voss Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 14.7% in the 4th 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 period. State Street Corp grew its position in Griffon by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $113,088,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Griffon by 41.4% during the fourth 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 period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Griffon by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,869,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 7.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $52,037,000 after acquiring an additional 51,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Trading Down 5.0%

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $92.66 on Thursday. Griffon has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $98.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 712.84 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.30.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The firm had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 676.92%.

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.