Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.33.

A number of research firms have recently commented on GEF. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Greif Stock Up 1.4 %

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

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Greif will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif 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 directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This trade represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Greif by 4.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 30,192 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 80,754 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Greif by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,874,000 after buying an additional 44,473 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 53,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in Greif by 15.5% in 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 buying an additional 40,494 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.