Analyzing Greif Bros. (GEF.B) & The Competition

Dividends

Greif Bros. pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Greif Bros. pays out 89.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “CONTNRS – PPR/PLS” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.6% and pay out 56.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Greif Bros. and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Greif Bros.	3.74%	10.21%	3.23%
Greif Bros. Competitors	5.83%	21.92%	6.53%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.1% of Greif Bros. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.9% of shares of all “CONTNRS – PPR/PLS” companies are owned by institutional investors. 16.2% of Greif Bros. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of shares of all “CONTNRS – PPR/PLS” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Greif Bros. and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Greif Bros.	$5.45 billion	$268.80 million	20.27
Greif Bros. Competitors	$5.78 billion	$370.95 million	18.52

Greif Bros.’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Greif Bros.. Greif Bros. is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Greif Bros. has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greif Bros.’s competitors have a beta of 0.97, suggesting that their average share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Greif Bros. competitors beat Greif Bros. on 8 of the 11 factors compared.

About Greif Bros.

Greif, Inc. produces and sells industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services; Paper Packaging & Services; Flexible Products & Services; and Land Management. The Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment offers rigid industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services. This segment sells its products to customers in the chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agricultural, pharmaceutical and minerals, and other industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment provides containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Flexible Products & Services segment offers flexible intermediate bulk containers comprising polypropylene-based woven fabric, as well as related services to the agricultural, food, and other industries. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use land. As of October 31, 2020, this segment owned approximately 244,000 acres of timber property in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is based in Delaware, Ohio.