Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the February 13th total of 2,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 363,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 4.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFF. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 95,382.7% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $44,505,000 after buying an additional 623,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $43,325,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth $21,451,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Griffon by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $63,582,000 after buying an additional 236,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Griffon by 74.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 473,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $33,144,000 after buying an additional 202,685 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Griffon Stock Performance

NYSE:GFF traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,247. Griffon has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average price is $74.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 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%. Research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GFF. StockNews.com downgraded Griffon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Griffon to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $98.75.

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.