Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.37, for a total transaction of $52,167.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 802,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,577,436.87. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,338 shares of company stock worth $10,667,788. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after buying an additional 293,278 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter worth about $21,070,000. Voss Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 166.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after purchasing an additional 202,714 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 255.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 241,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,570,000 after purchasing an additional 173,682 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of GFF stock opened at $94.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 730.02 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.55. Griffon has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $97.58.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

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.