Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.33.

GEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sidoti started coverage on Greif in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price target for the company.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded down $1.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.96. 202,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 220,230. Greif has a 12-month low of $55.95 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Greif's payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,613.09. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 24.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Greif in the 3rd quarter worth about $610,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Greif by 97.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 15.5% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,958,000 after buying an additional 40,494 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.