Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Griffon had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 108.70%.

Griffon Price Performance

GFF traded up $7.80 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.11. 273,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 309,964. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.74. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.81. Griffon has a 1 year low of $55.01 and a 1 year high of $86.73.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 67,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total value of $4,706,853.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,102,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,343,410.24. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Sight sold 3,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $279,697.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,825.36. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 365,170 shares of company stock worth $27,178,746 in the last 90 days. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.