Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.20.

Several research firms recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens upped their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Griffon in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Griffon Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE GFF traded down $1.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 617,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,583. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $86.73. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $73.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.92.

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Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total transaction of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,482,984. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Griffon by 7.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $36,395,000 after acquiring an additional 34,525 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 109.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 33,002 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Griffon by 33.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,213 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 19,291 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,761 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Griffon by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $33,144,000 after acquiring an additional 202,685 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Griffon

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.