LPL Financial LLC Sells 5,002 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

LPL Financial LLC lessened its position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 52.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,002 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Greif were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GEF. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter worth about $2,594,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Greif by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 535,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,756,000 after buying an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Greif by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,760,000 after buying an additional 44,088 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 801,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,983,000 after acquiring an additional 17,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Greif by 162.6% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 10,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, Director Mark A. Emkes acquired 3,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $55.89 per share, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 44,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,523.73. This represents a 7.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David C. Lloyd sold 2,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $125,008.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,580 shares in the company, valued at $418,719.20. This represents a 22.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $53.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.69. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

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.