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

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. 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. Stephens upped their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $82.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $83.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,108,184. The trade was a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian G. Harris sold 13,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.10, for a total transaction of $880,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 199,748 shares in the company, valued at $13,203,342.80. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 603,517 shares of company stock worth $42,818,506 over the last three months. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 1.1% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,300,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Griffon by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,658 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 16,301 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 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.