Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

Griffon Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $69.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a 52 week low of $42.13 and a 52 week high of $77.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.50 and a 200-day moving average of $66.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 6,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $457,631.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,169,667 shares in the company, valued at $152,006,870.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 6,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total transaction of $457,631.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,169,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,006,870.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 198,571 shares in the company, valued at $13,899,970. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,464 shares of company stock worth $17,244,450 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 486.0% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 911,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,834,000 after purchasing an additional 755,773 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after purchasing an additional 55,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.