Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 318.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,169 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,363 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.28% of Greif worth $8,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Greif by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,159,000 after acquiring an additional 38,229 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter worth about $2,943,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Greif by 338.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, VP Gary R. Martz bought 1,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,579,347. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 1,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill acquired 745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the acquisition, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares in the company, valued at $104,211.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

GEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF opened at $62.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.13 and a 200 day moving average of $64.62. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.37 and a fifty-two week high of $76.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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.