Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Griffon Corporation received a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from five analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $115 per share.
• Recent insider activity included notable stock sales by CEO Ronald J. Kramer and COO Robert F. Mehmel, with insiders selling 129,389 shares worth about $12.3 million over the last quarter.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.05 EPS on $421.86 million in revenue, while also paying a $0.22 quarterly dividend for a 1.0% yield.

Shares of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Griffon from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Griffon from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In other Griffon news, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,873 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.02, for a total transaction of $755,965.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 790,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,889,599.04. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $12,309,525 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Griffon in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Griffon in the second quarter worth about $37,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Griffon Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $91.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 704.09 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.61. Griffon has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $98.36.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.63 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The firm's revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 676.92%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.