Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer Buys 550 Shares of Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.88 per share, with a total value of $37,334.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 162,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,006,809.88. The trade was a 0.34 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Greif Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Greif stock opened at $60.76 on Tuesday. Greif, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.95 and a 1 year high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.46 and a 200 day moving average of $63.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Greif’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Greif from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Sidoti started coverage on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Greif in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Greif by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Greif by 14.3% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Greif during the third quarter valued at approximately $610,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Greif by 97.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 16,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Greif by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 302,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,958,000 after acquiring an additional 40,494 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.