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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens upped their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 0.4 %

GFF stock opened at $71.53 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.26 and a 200-day moving average of $72.30. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $44,505,000 after acquiring an additional 623,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $43,325,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth about $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,582,000 after purchasing an additional 236,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.