Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Price Target Raised to $100.00 at Stephens

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price target increased by Stephens from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $73.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a 52 week low of $44.71 and a 52 week high of $80.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.82.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.18%.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. This represents a 19.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 606,742 shares of company stock valued at $42,931,300. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Griffon in the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.