Greif, Inc. $GEF Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 70.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,317 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Greif were worth $30,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GEF. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 44,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after acquiring an additional 10,131 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $448,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 target price (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Greif to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF stock opened at $65.18 on Friday. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.85.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This is a boost from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $1,998,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,698,015.40. This represents a 29.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total transaction of $610,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,838.24. This trade represents a 71.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.