Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Griffon Trading Up 0.1 %

GFF opened at $80.96 on Thursday. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.95.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

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

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746 over the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,325,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the period. abrdn plc purchased a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $12,842,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Griffon during the third quarter valued at $9,800,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Griffon by 120.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after buying an additional 89,948 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently 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.