Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Griffon from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Griffon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $81.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. Griffon has a 12-month low of $65.01 and a 12-month high of $97.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 630.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.43.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The firm had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $414.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is 676.92%.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Griffon by 149.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 645.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 447 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 362.6% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.