Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Hits New 12-Month High at $74.32

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $74.32 and last traded at $74.07, with a volume of 46086 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GFF. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th.

Griffon Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 72.80%. The firm had revenue of $643.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total value of $134,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 931.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Griffon by 671.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Griffon by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,754 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.