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

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.40.

GEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Sidoti began coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Greif Stock Performance

NYSE:GEF opened at $70.80 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.59 and a 200-day moving average of $62.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Greif has a twelve month low of $55.95 and a twelve month high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Greif by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Greif by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Greif during the 3rd quarter worth $610,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Greif by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 16,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,958,000 after buying an additional 40,494 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.