Bank of America Cuts Greif (NYSE:GEF) Price Target to $73.00

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $79.00 to $73.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on GEF. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sidoti began coverage on Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.33.

Greif Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GEF opened at $59.64 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.78 and its 200-day moving average is $63.06. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. Greif has a one year low of $55.95 and a one year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were 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. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director B Andrew Rose acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $245,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,700. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731 in the last quarter. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Greif by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,126,000 after acquiring an additional 30,192 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Greif by 17.6% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,053,000 after purchasing an additional 80,754 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $32,874,000 after buying an additional 44,473 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $21,381,000 after buying an additional 53,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Greif by 15.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by 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.