Analysts Set Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Price Target at $103.50

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.50.

GFF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. CJS Securities raised Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $69.67 on Tuesday. Griffon has a 12 month low of $63.92 and a 12 month high of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 75.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.03.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total transaction of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 2,273.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 14,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 13,848 shares in the last quarter. Voss Capital LP grew its stake in Griffon by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,535,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,890,000 after acquiring an additional 185,000 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 86,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,587,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,774 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 172.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 78,286 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,962,000 after purchasing an additional 49,585 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Company Profile

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.