Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Update

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the August 31st total of 1,640,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 475,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GFF. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 3,121 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $218,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,178,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,482,400. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,720 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,903. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Griffon by 98.7% in 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 bought a new stake in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Griffon by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 282,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,849. Griffon has a 1-year low of $38.33 and a 1-year high of $77.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

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.