Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Griffon Trading Down 4.6 %

Griffon stock traded down $3.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 569,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,113. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.53 and its 200 day moving average is $66.82. Griffon has a 1-year low of $44.71 and a 1-year high of $80.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.18%.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. The trade was a 2.38 % 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. This trade represents a 19.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 606,742 shares of company stock worth $42,931,300. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Griffon by 74.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 190.3% in the second quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 251,700 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $16,074,000 after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 112.1% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,433,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Griffon by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Company Profile

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.