Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Hits New 52-Week High at $74.32

Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $74.32 and last traded at $74.07, with a volume of 46086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GFF shares. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd.

Griffon Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.80.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 72.80% and a net margin of 2.65%. The firm had revenue of $643.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Griffon Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total value of $134,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,269,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 931.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Griffon by 128.6% during the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 944 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Griffon by 671.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is 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.