Insider Buying: Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Purchases 1,075 Shares of Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $69.14 per share, for a total transaction of $74,325.50. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,437,553.64. The trade was a 0.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Greif Price Performance

NYSE:GEF opened at $61.26 on Monday. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Greif’s payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GEF. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Greif currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Greif by 14.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Greif during the third quarter worth approximately $610,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake 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 during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.