Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.40.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $67.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th.

Greif Stock Performance

Greif stock opened at $69.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.51. Greif has a twelve month low of $55.95 and a twelve month high of $71.36.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 4.99%. Research analysts expect that Greif will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Greif's dividend payout ratio is 46.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Greif by 4.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,126,000 after acquiring an additional 30,192 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 17.6% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,053,000 after purchasing an additional 80,754 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Greif by 9.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,874,000 after purchasing an additional 44,473 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 16.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,381,000 after purchasing an additional 53,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Greif by 15.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,958,000 after purchasing an additional 40,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

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.