Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 51,244 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) by 68.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 51,244 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Greif were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GEF. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Greif by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Greif during the second quarter worth about $64,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 80.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 27,766.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Greif Price Performance

GEF opened at $62.89 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.91. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.95 and a 52 week high of $71.36.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 13.28%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Greif from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Friday, August 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

Greif 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.