Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Price Target Raised to $105.00 at Stephens

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price target boosted by Stephens from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd.

Griffon Stock Up 0.1 %

GFF stock opened at $80.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.43. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.95.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in 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. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.