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

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GEF shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.61 per share, with a total value of $74,371.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 163,251 shares in the company, valued at $11,037,400.11. This trade represents a 0.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of Greif

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Greif by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 801,429 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $48,983,000 after buying an additional 17,425 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $46,279,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Greif by 8.4% during the 4th 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. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Greif by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 535,932 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,756,000 after buying an additional 11,210 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Greif by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 310,236 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,962,000 after buying an additional 7,684 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.75. 225,315 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,200. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Greif has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $73.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Greif's payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

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.