Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.17.

GEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $54,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 77,433 shares in the company, valued at $5,420,310. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total value of $610,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,838.24. This represents a 71.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,031 shares of company stock worth $3,985,590 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Greif by 104.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Greif by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $69.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.34. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.99. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.21%. Greif’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.85%.

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.