Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

GFF has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens boosted their target price on Griffon from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Griffon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $108.00 target price on shares of Griffon in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Griffon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Griffon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Griffon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $89.75 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 97.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.33. Griffon has a 52 week low of $63.92 and a 52 week high of $97.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $649.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.35 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 228.83% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, Director James W. Sight sold 3,070 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $295,180.50. Following the sale, the director owned 13,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,792.80. This trade represents a 18.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seth L. Kaplan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.44, for a total value of $1,431,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 119,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,428,653.68. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GFF. Voss Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 1,760,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $129,624,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Griffon by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,535,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $113,088,000 after acquiring an additional 11,169 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Griffon by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,002,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,835,000 after acquiring an additional 293,278 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Griffon by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 867,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $63,869,000 after purchasing an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Griffon by 7.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 719,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after purchasing an additional 51,354 shares in the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon’s portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon’s Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.