State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Greif were worth $2,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter worth $2,943,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Greif by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 69,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,260 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 78,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,159,000 after purchasing an additional 38,229 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 402,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,883,000 after purchasing an additional 24,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its position in Greif by 338.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Greif Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE GEF opened at $61.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.66. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.37 and a fifty-two week high of $76.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Greif’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Greif has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 1,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares in the company, valued at $1,579,347. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill bought 745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,211.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 1,807 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 42,934 shares of company stock worth $2,864,352 and have sold 6,000 shares worth $384,620. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

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.