Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.20.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF opened at $58.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. Greif has a 12-month low of $48.23 and a 12-month high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.09, for a total transaction of $120,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 64,678 shares in the company, valued at $3,886,501.02. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Greif by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,923,000 after purchasing an additional 13,690 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Greif by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 23.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,707,000 after purchasing an additional 40,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 9.5% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 115,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,333,000 after purchasing an additional 9,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

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.