Greif, Inc. (GEF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.54 on April 1st

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.54 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th.

Greif has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years. Greif has a dividend payout ratio of 39.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Greif to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.4%.

Greif Stock Performance

NYSE:GEF opened at $60.57 on Wednesday. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $55.95 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In related news, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,700. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the firm’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 value of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Greif currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.33.

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.