Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $69.67 and traded as high as $77.02. Griffon shares last traded at $75.69, with a volume of 203,587 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.75.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The business had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This is an increase from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business’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 transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,343,410.24. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746 over the last 90 days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Griffon by 98.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Griffon by 1,024.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during 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.