Truist Financial Cuts Greif (NYSE:GEF) Price Target to $71.00

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its target price lowered by Truist Financial from $72.00 to $71.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on GEF. Zacks Research upgraded Greif to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Greif currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Greif Stock Performance

NYSE:GEF opened at $60.97 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.73 and its 200 day moving average is $59.90. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Greif’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In related news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total transaction of $1,998,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,698,015.40. This trade represents a 29.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total value of $136,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 70,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814,585.36. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,741 shares of company stock valued at $4,475,752 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Greif during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Greif by 104.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in Greif during the second quarter valued at about $214,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new stake in Greif during the second quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Greif in the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Institutional investors 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.