Analysts Set Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) Target Price at $95.60

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.60.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Griffon from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a report on Monday.

Griffon Stock Up 0.3%

GFF stock opened at $73.24 on Friday. Griffon has a fifty-two week low of $63.92 and a fifty-two week high of $84.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.28.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The conglomerate reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $662.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.47 million. Griffon had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 181.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Griffon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Griffon’s payout ratio is presently 88.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Griffon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Griffon by 52.3% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 951,120 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,005,000 after purchasing an additional 326,663 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the first quarter valued at approximately $22,108,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 166.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 324,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,715,000 after buying an additional 202,714 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 123,307.7% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 191,282 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,565,000 after acquiring an additional 191,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voss Capital LP grew its stake in Griffon by 13.7% during the third quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,535,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,890,000 after acquiring an additional 185,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.