Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock

Greif (NYSE:GEF) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $68.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 16.44% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.20.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of Greif stock traded up $0.88 on Friday, reaching $58.40. 130,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 188,254. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. Greif has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.09, for a total transaction of $120,180.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 64,678 shares in the company, valued at $3,886,501.02. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Greif by 36.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Greif by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Greif by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Greif by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 31,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.