Griffon (NYSE:GFF) to Repurchase $200.00 million in Outstanding Stock

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 15th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $45.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Griffon has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $47.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.95.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 15th. The conglomerate reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.24. Griffon had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 60.20%. The business had revenue of $641.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Griffon’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GFF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. Its Consumer and Professional Products segment manufactures and markets long-handled tools and landscaping products for homeowners and professionals; wood and wire closet organization, general living storage, and wire garage storage products to home center retail chains, mass merchandisers, and direct-to builder professional installers; wheelbarrows and lawn carts; snow, striking, and hand tools; planters and lawn accessories; garden hoses; and pruners, loppers, shears, and other tools, as well as cleaning products for professional, home, and industrial use.