Mark A. Emkes Purchases 3,000 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Director Mark A. Emkes purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $55.89 per share, with a total value of $167,670.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 44,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,523.73. This represents a 7.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of Greif stock opened at $57.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.43 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $7,473,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Greif by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 52,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after buying an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign s Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $828,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Greif by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.