Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%.

Griffon Stock Performance

GFF traded down $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $80.82. 132,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 318,454. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 1.43. 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 fifty day moving average price of $76.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.88. Griffon has a 1-year low of $55.01 and a 1-year high of $86.73.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of Griffon 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 owns 44,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GFF. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

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.