Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “buy” with a $122.50 target price.
• Griffon shares opened at $92.36 and were trading up 2.9%, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with $1.51 in EPS and $481.37 million in revenue.
• Insiders sold approximately $17.5 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by CEO Ronald Kramer and Director Kevin Sullivan; institutional investors own 73.22% of the stock.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on GFF. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Griffon from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.50.

Griffon Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $92.36 on Monday. Griffon has a 12 month low of $65.01 and a 12 month high of $108.57. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.02.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $481.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.70 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 249.31% and a net margin of 8.08%. Griffon's revenue for the quarter was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Griffon will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $369,565.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ronald Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.42, for a total transaction of $10,242,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,684,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $172,505,698.74. This represents a 5.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 169,368 shares of company stock valued at $17,508,936. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 15.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 107.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Griffon by 5.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,694 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Griffon by 15.7% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth about $361,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation is a diversified holding company that primarily operates in the home and building products industry. Through its Clopay Building Products business, the company manufactures and markets residential garage doors, commercial sectional doors, rolling steel doors, security grilles and related access products.

Its products are sold under brands including Clopay, Holmes, Ideal Door, Cornell and Cookson. Griffon serves residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers through distribution networks, dealers, builders and other sales channels in North America and selected international markets.

Griffon has historically operated additional businesses, including the AMES Companies, a manufacturer of lawn and garden tools, and Telephonics Corporation, a defense electronics provider.

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