Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Stock Price

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Stephens from $100.00 to $105.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE:GFF opened at $80.80 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.88. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 108.70% and a net margin of 8.00%. Equities analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,102,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $279,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 343.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 56.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 1,024.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

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.