Loop Capital Initiates Coverage on Griffon (NYSE:GFF)

Analysts at Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the conglomerate’s stock. Loop Capital’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.40% from the stock’s current price.

GFF has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James restated 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GFF traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $76.37. The company had a trading volume of 226,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,734. Griffon has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.12.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a return on equity of 120.61% and a net margin of 9.13%. On average, equities analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Griffon declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at $3,108,184. The trade was a 18.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $415,564.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,892 shares of company stock valued at $1,734,296 over the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Griffon during the 4th quarter worth $705,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,130 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,693,000 after purchasing an additional 30,692 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 14,218 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the period. Finally, Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. 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.