StockNews.com Downgrades Griffon (NYSE:GFF) to Buy

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

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GFF. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd.

Griffon Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE:GFF opened at $73.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.66, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41. Griffon has a 1-year low of $25.97 and a 1-year high of $74.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,269,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GFF. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Griffon by 829.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 572,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $23,060,000 after purchasing an additional 510,641 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Griffon during the fourth quarter worth about $14,521,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Griffon by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,656,744 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,304,000 after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth about $154,430,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Griffon by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,598,353 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $97,420,000 after acquiring an additional 289,208 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently 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.