Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.33.

GEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This trade represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,970,613.09. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. 3.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Greif by 71.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 80.5% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Greif by 50.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Greif by 7.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Up 1.4 %

GEF opened at $59.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. Greif has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $73.16.

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

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.79%.

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.