Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Receives $98.20 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.20.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GFF shares. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.49. 271,436 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 436,126. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.60. Griffon has a 52-week low of $55.01 and a 52-week high of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The conglomerate reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $611.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.23 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Griffon's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Griffon's payout ratio is 14.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Griffon by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,053 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,135,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 228,792 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $16,306,000 after buying an additional 4,113 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the fourth quarter valued at $276,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 23,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 14,120 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.