Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GEF. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Greif Stock Performance

NYSE GEF opened at $51.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Greif has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.08.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Greif’s payout ratio is 61.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.50 per share, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark A. Emkes purchased 3,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.89 per share, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,523.73. The trade was a 7.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Greif by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 22,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after buying an additional 4,036 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.