Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on GFF. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GFF opened at $77.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.31. Griffon has a 12 month low of $44.03 and a 12 month high of $80.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,350. This represents a 19.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 578,082 shares of company stock worth $40,777,353 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Griffon by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,954,000 after purchasing an additional 38,707 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Griffon by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,379,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $88,066,000 after acquiring an additional 19,644 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 631,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Griffon by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 519,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $36,395,000 after acquiring an additional 34,525 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Griffon by 112.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 283,800 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,123,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

Griffon Company Profile

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.