Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Loop Capital

Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $95.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on GFF. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed 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, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Griffon currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $76.37 on Thursday. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.16.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. On average, analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.69%.

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

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,631,091.52. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,892 shares of company stock worth $1,734,296 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Griffon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. 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.