Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on GFF. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $69.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 4,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $339,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 198,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,899,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,251 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,297 in the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Griffon by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Griffon by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors 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.