Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $83.40 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Greif has a consensus “Hold” rating from six brokerages, split evenly among buy, hold, and sell recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $83.40, near the reported share price of $81.75.
• Recent analyst views were mixed: Raymond James upgraded the stock to “Outperform” with a $90 target, while Bank of America downgraded it to “Underperform” with a $70 target; Truist also cut its target to $94.
• Greif reported quarterly EPS of $1.61, well above the $1.11 consensus estimate, with revenue up 3.5% year over year to $1.17 billion. The company also paid a $0.62 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.0% annualized yield.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.40.

Several research firms have recently commented on GEF. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Greif from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Greif from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America cut Greif from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Greif from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In related news, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.67, for a total value of $109,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $827,898.83. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was 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 represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,661,538 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Greif by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Greif by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,585 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Greif by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 4,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Greif Stock Performance

GEF stock opened at $81.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.56. Greif has a 52 week low of $55.75 and a 52 week high of $90.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Greif will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.74%.

Greif Company Profile

Greif, Inc is a global producer of industrial and paper packaging products and related services. The company manufactures and supplies fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions for customers in a range of industries.

Greif also provides packaging lifecycle services, including container reconditioning, recycling, logistics and related customer support. Its products are used to package and transport food and beverage ingredients, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural materials, pharmaceuticals and other industrial goods.

Founded in 1877 as a cooperage business, Greif has expanded into a multinational packaging company serving customers across North America, Europe and other international markets.

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