Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) had its target price raised by Stephens from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the conglomerate's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd.

Griffon Stock Down 0.5 %

Griffon stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $78.64. The stock had a trading volume of 334,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,338. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.99. Griffon has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 292,309 shares of company stock valued at $22,104,633. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 56.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Griffon by 1,024.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Griffon by 22.4% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 49,109 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,437,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 228.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,184 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 12,653 shares during the last quarter. 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.