Greif (NYSE:GEF) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Greif (NYSE:GEF) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.14), reports. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 15.57%.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of GEF stock opened at $61.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.57. Greif has a 52-week low of $55.95 and a 52-week high of $74.46. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Greif by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 753,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,321,000 after acquiring an additional 280,330 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,053,000 after acquiring an additional 80,754 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Greif by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 409,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,853,000 after purchasing an additional 15,169 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,381,000 after acquiring an additional 53,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Greif by 12.3% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 262,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,061,000 after purchasing an additional 28,669 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.50.

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.