Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $74.72 and traded as high as $82.59. Greif shares last traded at $81.7850, with a volume of 309,075 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GEF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Greif from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $97.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.00.

Greif Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.77.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total value of $166,280.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 53,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,475,592.48. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.67, for a total value of $109,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $827,898.83. This trade represents a 11.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,987 shares of company stock valued at $8,497,898. Company insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,361,000 after buying an additional 63,843 shares during the last quarter. EVR Research LP acquired a new stake in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at $11,848,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 90,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,099,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 8,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Greif by 362.2% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 24,846 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Greif

Greif, Inc (NYSE: GEF) is a global producer of industrial packaging and paper-based products. The company manufactures and sells steel, plastic and fiber drums; rigid intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions used to transport and protect goods.

Greif serves customers across industries including food and beverage, chemicals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, industrial manufacturing and consumer products. Its operations span North America, Europe and other international markets, supporting customers through a network of manufacturing, recycling and distribution facilities.

Founded in 1877, Greif has expanded from a paper and timber business into a diversified packaging company.