Short Interest in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Expands By 5.5%

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during 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 sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 475,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GFF shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF opened at $69.47 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.19 and a 200-day moving average of $67.34. Griffon has a 52-week low of $38.33 and a 52-week high of $77.99.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a return on equity of 96.05% and a net margin of 7.27%. The firm had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 50,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,720 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,903 over the last three months. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Griffon by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after buying an additional 19,644 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Griffon by 486.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $66,834,000 after acquiring an additional 755,773 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Griffon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.