Greif (NYSE:GEF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Greif (NYSE:GEF) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of Greif stock traded down $5.96 on Thursday, hitting $54.40. The stock had a trading volume of 135,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,650. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.11. Greif has a twelve month low of $53.42 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Greif’s payout ratio is presently 47.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $245,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,700. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GEF shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti began coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.33.

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.