Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 682,600 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the November 30th total of 572,500 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 190,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GEF. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Greif currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director B Andrew Rose acquired 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $245,700. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Greif Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GEF traded down $0.54 on Friday, hitting $61.26. 201,262 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 172,389. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Greif has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $73.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $66.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.13.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. Greif's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Greif will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Greif's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

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.

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