Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Receives $115.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

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

Griffon Stock Performance

Griffon stock opened at $89.71 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 690.16 and a beta of 1.41. Griffon has a 1-year low of $65.01 and a 1-year high of $98.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $414.63 million. Griffon had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 298.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 676.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,365,471.24. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 790,352 shares in the company, valued at $75,889,599.04. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525 in the last three months. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Griffon by 149.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Griffon by 362.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.