Wall Street Zen Upgrades Greif (NYSE:GEF) to Hold

Greif (NYSE:GEF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Greif from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Greif presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.50.

Greif Stock Up 0.2%

GEF stock opened at $65.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.95. Greif has a 1 year low of $48.23 and a 1 year high of $70.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.48, for a total value of $302,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,699,488. This represents a 15.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,680. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 32,293 shares of company stock worth $2,145,733 and sold 53,851 shares worth $3,227,003. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Greif by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Greif by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,805,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Greif by 4.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 129,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,115,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Greif in the first quarter worth about $1,167,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.