Greif (NYSE:GEF) Given New $73.00 Price Target at Bank of America

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

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Sidoti started 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, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Greif currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.33.

Greif Trading Up 0.3 %

GEF stock opened at $59.64 on Monday. Greif has a one year low of $55.95 and a one year high of $73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Greif will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 over the last ninety days. 3.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Greif by 71.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Greif by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Greif by 27,766.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 770.7% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 50.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.