Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Short Interest Up 10.5% in August

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 593,800 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 537,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 175,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GEF. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Greif from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 753,812 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,321,000 after purchasing an additional 280,330 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 540,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,053,000 after purchasing an additional 80,754 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 409,407 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,853,000 after purchasing an additional 15,169 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,381,000 after purchasing an additional 53,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 262,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,061,000 after purchasing an additional 28,669 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Down 0.1 %

GEF stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 142,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 165,307. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Greif has a 52-week low of $55.95 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.59.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.45%.

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.