State of Alaska Department of Revenue Trims Stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Greif were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Greif by 326.6% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in shares of Greif by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 3,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Gary R. Martz acquired 1,807 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Greif news, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 1,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.37 per share, for a total transaction of $123,544.59. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,579,347. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill purchased 745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the purchase, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,211.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and have sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com raised Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 1st.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF stock opened at $63.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.37 and a 12-month high of $76.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.53%. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Greif’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

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.