Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Griffon's stock experienced unusual trading volume with 249,270 shares exchanged, a decrease of 17% from the previous session.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $98.20, with multiple upgrades and ratings indicating a general belief in a strong performance for the stock.
• The company reported earnings of $1.23 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showcasing a solid net margin of 9.06% despite a revenue decline compared to the previous year.

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 249,270 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the previous session's volume of 301,676 shares.The stock last traded at $81.94 and had previously closed at $80.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GFF. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $613.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.95 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 144.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Griffon Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 53.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $53,994,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Griffon by 95,382.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,457 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $44,505,000 after acquiring an additional 623,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Griffon during the 4th quarter valued at $43,325,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $22,108,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Griffon by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $63,582,000 after acquiring an additional 236,179 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently 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.