Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Short Interest Up 9.8% in December

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the December 15th total of 2,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 429,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Approximately 6.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In other news, Director Victor Eugene Renuart sold 4,500 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.46, for a total value of $380,070.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,631,091.52. The trade was a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total transaction of $4,706,853.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,102,503 shares in the company, valued at $147,343,410.24. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,170 shares of company stock valued at $27,178,746. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Griffon

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in Griffon by 5.1% in the third 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. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Griffon by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 5.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Griffon by 1.1% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Griffon by 98.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of GFF stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $76.69. 321,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 371,268. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.92. Griffon has a twelve month low of $55.01 and a twelve month high of $86.73.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The conglomerate reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $659.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.24 million. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Griffon’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Griffon announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.