Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, an increase of 21.8% from the September 30th total of 1,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 434,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Griffon

In related news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $140,754,045.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $6,226,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,260,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,754,045.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,464 shares of company stock valued at $17,244,450 over the last ninety days. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Griffon by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 5.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 0.5% in the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,899,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Griffon by 1.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Griffon by 2.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,562 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Griffon from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Griffon in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Griffon Stock Performance

Shares of GFF traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.58. 230,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,095. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. Griffon has a 12-month low of $39.09 and a 12-month high of $77.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.64.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Griffon’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Griffon’s payout ratio is 16.09%.

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.