Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives $74.83 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.8333.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $136,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 70,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,814,585.36. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $68,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,934,631.76. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,741 shares of company stock valued at $6,448,252. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Norges Bank bought a new position in Greif during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,219,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Greif during the fourth quarter valued at about $448,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Greif during the fourth quarter valued at about $496,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Greif by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,746,000 after buying an additional 24,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Greif by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Greif Price Performance

GEF opened at $62.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.27 and a 200-day moving average of $59.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. Greif has a 12-month low of $48.23 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.85%.

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.