Bala Sathyanarayanan Sells 748 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Greif Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.64. 239,543 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 223,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.06. Greif, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Greif's payout ratio is 47.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GEF shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Greif by 71.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Greif by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Greif by 27,766.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Greif by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 7.0% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,068 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Greif Company Profile

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.