Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives $77.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.00.

GEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of Greif stock opened at $54.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. Greif has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.71%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, VP David C. Lloyd sold 2,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $125,008.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,719.20. The trade was a 22.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 35.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Greif by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Greif in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. 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.