Greif (NYSE:GEF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Sidoti

Sidoti assumed coverage on shares of Greif (NYSE:GEF) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $93.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on GEF. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.40.

Greif Price Performance

NYSE GEF opened at $71.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.62. Greif has a 52-week low of $55.95 and a 52-week high of $71.39.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. Equities research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Greif’s payout ratio is 46.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Greif during the third quarter valued at about $610,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Greif by 97.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Greif by 15.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,958,000 after purchasing an additional 40,494 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

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.