Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $92.00 to $100.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GFF. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

Griffon Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $79.34 on Wednesday. Griffon has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $80.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.36 and a 200-day moving average of $67.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. The firm had revenue of $659.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 241,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total value of $18,216,389.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,860,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,207,211.10. This represents a 11.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total transaction of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 603,517 shares of company stock valued at $42,818,506. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after buying an additional 38,707 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Griffon by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $88,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,644 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $61,463,000 after purchasing an additional 30,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 9.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,350,000 after buying an additional 55,100 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is currently 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.