Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Given New $100.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its target price lifted by Robert W. Baird from $92.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock opened at $82.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. Griffon has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $83.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $63,894.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 746,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,307,566.66. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the second quarter worth $55,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at $65,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 56.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $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.