Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer Purchases 1,100 Shares

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.61 per share, for a total transaction of $74,371.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 163,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,037,400.11. This trade represents a 0.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Greif Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE GEF opened at $61.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.13.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is 47.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GEF shares. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Quarry LP increased its position in Greif by 71.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Greif by 27,766.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

About Greif

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.