Investors Research Corp Cuts Position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Investors Research Corp decreased its position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Greif were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the first quarter worth $1,648,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Greif by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 1.9% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Greif by 16.8% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 202,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,183,000 after acquiring an additional 29,187 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Greif by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 99,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,445,000 after acquiring an additional 34,220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GEF. StockNews.com raised Greif from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Greif from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other Greif news, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill bought 745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.12 per share, for a total transaction of $47,024.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the treasurer now owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,211.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Treasurer Anthony John Krabill purchased 745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $63.12 per share, with a total value of $47,024.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the treasurer now directly owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,211.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gary R. Martz purchased 1,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.37 per share, with a total value of $123,544.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 23,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,579,347. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 42,934 shares of company stock worth $2,864,352 and sold 6,000 shares worth $384,620. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Greif Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of GEF stock traded up $0.02 on Monday, reaching $63.34. 235,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,827. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.37 and a twelve month high of $76.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.02.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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.