Versor Investments LP Sells 3,400 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Versor Investments LP lowered its stake in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Greif were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Greif by 24,865.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 5,719 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Greif by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Mirova bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the first quarter worth $2,597,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Greif by 133.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 13,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 5.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James started coverage on Greif in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.00.

Greif Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $68.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a boost from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.96%.

Greif 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.