Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $49.13 Million Stock Holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 784,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 30,192 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 1.66% of Greif worth $49,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Greif by 3.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Greif by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Greif by 66.1% in 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. Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Greif by 25.1% during the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 6,536 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of GEF opened at $67.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.91. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.95 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $63.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.43.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.14). Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Greif's dividend payout ratio is 46.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GEF shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $67.00 target price (down from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.00.

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.