Greif (NYSE:GEF) CFO Purchases 1,000 Shares

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.49 per share, with a total value of $65,490.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,996,097.56. This trade represents a 0.51% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Greif Stock Performance

NYSE GEF traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,588. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.79. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.The business’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Greif by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Greif by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Greif by 5.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Greif by 1.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 31,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by 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.