Robert W. Baird Boosts Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Price Target to $92.00

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $84.00 to $92.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

GFF has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 12th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF stock opened at $63.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.29. Griffon has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.82.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Griffon will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is currently 15.83%.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,464 shares of company stock valued at $17,244,450 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Griffon by 6.9% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 23,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Griffon by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Griffon by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after acquiring an additional 89,948 shares in the last quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,182,000. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Griffon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $502,000. 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.