Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $83.00

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GEF shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Greif from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America downgraded Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th.

Greif Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Greif stock opened at $80.52 on Friday. Greif has a 12-month low of $55.75 and a 12-month high of $90.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.87. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Greif will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.74%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other Greif news, CEO Ole Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.68, for a total transaction of $3,474,741.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 88,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,650,983.56. The trade was a 31.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $1,906,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,644.50. This trade represents a 45.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,987 shares of company stock valued at $8,644,178. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Greif by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Greif by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Greif during the 4th quarter worth approximately $247,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Greif

Greif, Inc (NYSE: GEF) is a global packaging company that produces and sells industrial packaging products and paper-based packaging materials. Its offerings include fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard and corrugated products; paperboard tubes and cores; and related closure systems and services.

The company serves customers in industries such as chemicals, food and beverage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, and other industrial markets. Greif’s packaging products are designed to help customers transport, protect and store bulk materials, while its paper and corrugated products support a broad range of commercial and industrial applications.

Greif traces its history to 1877, when it was founded as a cooperage business in Cleveland, Ohio.