Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $75.00 to $68.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on GEF. Sidoti assumed coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

Greif Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of GEF traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.44. The stock had a trading volume of 210,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,081. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $60.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.05. Greif has a 12-month low of $53.43 and a 12-month high of $73.16.

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

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,700. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.88 per share, for a total transaction of $37,334.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 6,225 shares of company stock valued at $431,731. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Greif by 7.0% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Greif by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,250 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Greif by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Greif by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,183 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Greif by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 784,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,126,000 after purchasing an additional 30,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

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.