Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 35.28% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GEF. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Sidoti initiated coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Greif has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.00.

Greif Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded down $1.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $55.44. 210,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 169,081. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Greif has a 52-week low of $53.43 and a 52-week high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.65 and its 200-day moving average is $63.05.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director B Andrew Rose bought 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $245,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,700. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer purchased 550 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 162,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. This represents a 0.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 6,225 shares of company stock worth $431,731 in the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in Greif in the fourth quarter worth about $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 230,183 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,473,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Greif by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,229,000 after acquiring an additional 60,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

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.