Short Interest in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Expands By 9.8%

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the December 15th total of 2,240,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 429,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Griffon Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Griffon stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.69. 321,982 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 371,268. Griffon has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.38 and a 200-day moving average of $69.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The company had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $18,216,389.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,860,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,207,211.10. This represents a 11.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 140,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 6.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,296 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Griffon by 9.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,389 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.