Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 739 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Greif were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 6.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 402,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,883,000 after purchasing an additional 24,230 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Greif by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 394,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,339,000 after acquiring an additional 10,390 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Greif by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 281,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 7,202 shares in the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 8.5% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 119,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,015,000 after purchasing an additional 9,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Greif by 0.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 103,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,913,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF stock opened at $61.35 on Thursday. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.37 and a 52 week high of $76.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.53%. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $126,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 62,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,933,815.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Greif news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $126,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 62,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,933,815.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.86 per share, with a total value of $132,555.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 10,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $690,321.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 42,934 shares of company stock worth $2,864,352 and sold 6,000 shares worth $384,620. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on Greif in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Greif 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.