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

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 price target on Griffon in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.67.

Griffon Price Performance

NYSE GFF opened at $87.67 on Friday. Griffon has a one year low of $63.92 and a one year high of $97.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.78 and a 200 day moving average of $77.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.29, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $649.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.35 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.Griffon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 95.65%.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,792.80. The trade was a 18.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Voss Capital LP lifted its holdings in Griffon by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,088,000 after acquiring an additional 11,169 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after acquiring an additional 293,278 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $52,037,000 after acquiring an additional 51,354 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Company Profile

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.