Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock Has Average Price Target of $83.00

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is neutral: Greif has a consensus “Hold” rating from five analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $83.00 versus the stock’s recent price of $82.80.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Greif reported adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, above the $1.11 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 3.5% year over year to $1.17 billion.
• Greif announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, equivalent to $2.48 annually and a 3.0% yield; meanwhile, company insiders sold nearly 99,000 shares worth approximately $8.6 million over the past 90 days.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GEF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Greif from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered shares of Greif from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other news, CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $1,906,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,644.50. The trade was a 45.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ole Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.68, for a total value of $3,474,741.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 88,267 shares in the company, valued at $7,650,983.56. This trade represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,644,178. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 12.1% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,015 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 3,304 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Greif by 362.2% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 24,846 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,906 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 8,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Odyssean LLC raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 500.8% during the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 18,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 15,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Greif stock opened at $82.80 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.65. Greif has a fifty-two week low of $55.75 and a fifty-two week high of $90.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Greif's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Greif will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Greif's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.74%.

Greif Company Profile

Greif, Inc NYSE: GEF is a global packaging company that produces and sells industrial packaging products and paper-based packaging materials. Its offerings include fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard and corrugated products; paperboard tubes and cores; and related closure systems and services.

The company serves customers in industries such as chemicals, food and beverage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, and other industrial markets. Greif's packaging products are designed to help customers transport, protect and store bulk materials, while its paper and corrugated products support a broad range of commercial and industrial applications.

Greif traces its history to 1877, when it was founded as a cooperage business in Cleveland, Ohio.

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