Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Price Target Raised to $100.00

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) had its price target raised by Stephens from $85.00 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $87.25.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of GFF traded down $2.91 on Thursday, reaching $74.48. The stock had a trading volume of 305,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,923. Griffon has a twelve month low of $44.71 and a twelve month high of $80.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.31 and a 200 day moving average of $66.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 14.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 1,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total value of $84,482.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 754,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,866,165.06. This trade represents a 0.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was 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 owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 578,082 shares of company stock worth $40,777,353 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Griffon in the first quarter worth approximately $557,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Griffon by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $432,954,000 after acquiring an additional 38,707 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Griffon by 228.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 61,704 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Griffon by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 18,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 659.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 26,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.