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

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded up $0.15 on Wednesday, hitting $59.64. The company had a trading volume of 239,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,769. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEF. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,381,000 after purchasing an additional 53,110 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Greif by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 16,759 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in Greif by 12.3% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 262,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,061,000 after purchasing an additional 28,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Greif by 9.3% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.