Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $79.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.79% from the company’s current price.

GEF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of 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 boosted their price target on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.33.

Greif Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of GEF opened at $59.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.86 and a 200 day moving average of $63.09. Greif has a 1-year low of $55.95 and a 1-year high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Greif will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This trade represents a 0.34 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.20 per share, for a total transaction of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $245,700. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP grew its position in Greif by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 80.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 770.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Greif by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Greif

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.