Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives $79.40 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.40.

GEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $71.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.91. Greif has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $71.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

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

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Greif by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Greif during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Greif by 80.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.