Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Greif (NYSE:GEF) Price Target to $75.00

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on GEF. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti assumed coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Greif presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Greif Price Performance

NYSE GEF opened at $56.49 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.01. Greif has a 12-month low of $53.43 and a 12-month high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 1,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $69.14 per share, with a total value of $74,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,613.09. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Greif by 7,222.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,264,000 after buying an additional 230,183 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $7,473,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $4,219,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Greif by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,229,000 after buying an additional 60,313 shares during the period. 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.