Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Greif were worth $3,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the first quarter worth $38,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Greif by 326.6% in the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Greif in the third quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in Greif by 5.3% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 3,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 1st.

Insider Activity

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

Greif Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $63.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.02. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $59.37 and a one year high of $76.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

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

Greif 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.