Sovereign s Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Greif by 7,222.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,264,000 after acquiring an additional 230,183 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,229,000 after acquiring an additional 60,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Greif by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,760,000 after acquiring an additional 44,088 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Greif Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $56.67 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.79 and its 200-day moving average is $59.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. 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 3.81%. Greif’s payout ratio is 61.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.50 per share, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David C. Lloyd sold 2,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $125,008.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,719.20. The trade was a 22.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.50.

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.