Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price target increased by analysts at Stephens from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 29.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Griffon Trading Up 8.7 %

Shares of GFF opened at $80.80 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 50-day moving average price of $76.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.88. Griffon has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have 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 large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Griffon by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 19,291 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in Griffon by 125.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 17,426 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,914,000 after buying an additional 61,210 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,089,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Griffon by 21.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 348,907 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,423,000 after acquiring an additional 61,399 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.