Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on GEF shares. Zacks Investment Research cut Greif from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Greif in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Greif from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $74.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, March 25th.

Shares of GEF opened at $64.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.01. Greif has a 1 year low of $53.65 and a 1 year high of $72.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.23.

Greif (NYSE:GEF – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. Greif had a net margin of 6.32% and a return on equity of 24.66%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Greif will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 17th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 16th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Greif’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

In other news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan bought 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.76 per share, for a total transaction of $26,442.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 10,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,253.28. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Greif by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth $2,443,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 6,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Greif during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Greif in the third quarter valued at about $11,512,000. 45.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Greif (Get Rating)

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management. 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.

Recommended Stories