Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 90.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 44,282 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Greif were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter worth $2,943,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Greif by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Greif by 338.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 20,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Greif by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in Greif during the 3rd quarter worth $342,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 1st. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $71.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF stock opened at $61.94 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.87.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill acquired 745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,211.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total value of $126,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 62,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,933,815.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill acquired 745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,211.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.