Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.33.

GEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sidoti assumed coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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, January 6th.

Greif Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GEF stock opened at $61.10 on Tuesday. Greif has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Greif will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value 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 represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Greif by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 801,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,983,000 after acquiring an additional 17,425 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Greif by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,760,000 after buying an additional 44,088 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Greif by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 535,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,756,000 after buying an additional 11,210 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Greif by 15.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,958,000 after buying an additional 40,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 69,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,272,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Greif

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.