Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on GEF shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,970,613.09. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.50 per share, with a total value of $58,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $58,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in Greif during the 4th quarter worth about $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Greif by 7,222.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,264,000 after buying an additional 230,183 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,473,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Greif by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,229,000 after acquiring an additional 60,313 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF opened at $55.31 on Wednesday. Greif has a twelve month low of $53.43 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $58.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.19.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.71%.

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.