Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Short Interest Update

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 598,400 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the October 15th total of 552,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 160,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GEF. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 target price (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Greif currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Greif Stock Performance

Greif stock opened at $67.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.43. Greif has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Greif’s payout ratio is 46.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Greif by 4.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,126,000 after acquiring an additional 30,192 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Greif by 17.6% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,053,000 after acquiring an additional 80,754 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Greif by 9.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,874,000 after acquiring an additional 44,473 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Greif by 16.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,381,000 after acquiring an additional 53,110 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in Greif by 15.5% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,958,000 after acquiring an additional 40,494 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

About Greif

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries.