Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Up 14.6% in July

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, an increase of 14.6% from the June 30th total of 2,060,000 shares. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 467,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of Griffon stock opened at $73.62 on Wednesday. Griffon has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $672.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.22 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 90.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GFF shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total value of $869,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total value of $869,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $6,707,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,500,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,725,034.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 671.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Sage Rock Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.