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

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.50.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Greif Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $53.78 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.83. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.50 per share, with a total value of $58,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Emkes purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.89 per share, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 44,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,523.73. The trade was a 7.27 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 104.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% 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.