Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Director Buys $58,500.00 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.50 per share, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of Greif stock opened at $55.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.63. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 3.86%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greif in the third quarter worth about $518,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted 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 worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 16,759 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter worth about $2,594,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Greif by 9.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,874,000 after acquiring an additional 44,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Greif by 4.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,126,000 after acquiring an additional 30,192 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GEF shares. 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. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Greif currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

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.