Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives $78.17 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GEF shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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. Finally, Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This trade represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David C. Lloyd sold 2,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $125,008.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,719.20. This represents a 22.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,225 shares of company stock worth $599,401. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Greif by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 801,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,983,000 after purchasing an additional 17,425 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth about $46,279,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,760,000 after acquiring an additional 44,088 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Greif by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 535,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,756,000 after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Greif by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 310,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,962,000 after acquiring an additional 7,684 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Greif Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of GEF stock opened at $57.58 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.92. Greif has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.33). Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

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