Greif (NYSE:GEF) Sets New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $53.10 and last traded at $53.65, with a volume of 24658 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $55.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greif currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

Greif Trading Down 3.7 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91.

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Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.33). Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.71%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, Director Mark A. Emkes bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $55.89 per share, with a total value of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 44,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,523.73. This represents a 7.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller bought 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.50 per share, with a total value of $58,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter worth about $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 7,222.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,264,000 after purchasing an additional 230,183 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter worth $7,473,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,219,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Greif by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,229,000 after buying an additional 60,313 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.