Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Greif (NYSE:GEF) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on GEF. Zacks Research lowered Greif from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Greif from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.50.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $65.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.60. Greif has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $70.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.49 per share, for a total transaction of $65,490.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 198,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,996,097.56. The trade was a 0.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,680. This trade represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 32,293 shares of company stock valued at $2,145,733 and have sold 53,851 shares valued at $3,227,003. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Greif by 36.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Greif in the second quarter valued at about $214,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the second quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Greif during the second quarter worth about $227,000. 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.