Greif (NYSE:GEF) Given Hold Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their hold rating on shares of Greif (NYSE:GEF) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $88.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $94.00.

GEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Greif from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Greif from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Greif in a report on Friday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.20.

Greif Price Performance

GEF stock opened at $73.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Greif has a 12-month low of $55.90 and a 12-month high of $90.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.68.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Greif had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Greif will post 4.80 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 17th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.74%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other Greif news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total transaction of $174,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 55,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,860,733.92. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.67, for a total transaction of $109,670.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $827,898.83. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $613,710. 7.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 90,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,099,000 after buying an additional 5,071 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after buying an additional 8,322 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 362.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 24,846 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 10.8% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 27,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 2,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Greif

Here are the key news stories impacting Greif this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Greif raised its annualized run-rate cost-savings target to $150 million and reported year-end leverage of 1.2 times, supporting its efforts to improve efficiency and strengthen its balance sheet. Greif: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, equivalent to $2.48 annually. Greif stock information
• Neutral Sentiment: Greif was named one of America’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces for the sixth consecutive year, a reputational positive with limited near-term earnings implications. Greif Named Top 100 Most Loved Workplace
• Negative Sentiment: Truist lowered its price target to $88 from $94 while reaffirming its Hold rating. Although the new target remains above the share price cited in the report, the cut may signal reduced analyst expectations. Truist Cuts Price Target on Greif
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates as higher costs squeezed margins, despite sales beating expectations on stronger pricing. The earnings shortfall is likely the most direct near-term headwind for the stock. Greif Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Costs, Sales Beat

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global producer of industrial and paper packaging products and related services. The company manufactures and supplies fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions for customers in a range of industries.

Greif also provides packaging lifecycle services, including container reconditioning, recycling, logistics and related customer support. Its products are used to package and transport food and beverage ingredients, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural materials, pharmaceuticals and other industrial goods.

Founded in 1877 as a cooperage business, Greif has expanded into a multinational packaging company serving customers across North America, Europe and other international markets.