Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.75.

Griffon Price Performance

Griffon stock opened at $71.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.27 and its 200-day moving average is $72.31. Griffon has a 12 month low of $55.01 and a 12 month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. Equities research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Turnbull sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.80, for a total value of $242,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,482,984. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,977 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 116.1% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.