Insider Selling: Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Sells 748 Shares of Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Greif Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:GEF opened at $59.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.73 and a 200 day moving average of $63.04. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is 47.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sidoti began coverage on Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Greif by 59.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 753,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,321,000 after purchasing an additional 280,330 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Greif by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,053,000 after acquiring an additional 80,754 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Greif during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,012,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 16.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Greif by 450.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 46,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Company Profile

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.