American Century Companies Inc. Takes Position in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. invested approximately $1.17 million to acquire a new stake in Greif, Inc., purchasing 21,214 shares during the first quarter.
• Greif, Inc. recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.56 per share, up from the previous $0.54, with an annualized yield of 3.7%.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter with an EPS of $1.03, exceeding analysts' estimates by $0.22, although revenue declined by 2.6% year-over-year.

American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,214 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,167,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GEF. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Greif by 104.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Greif by 6.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Greif by 13.3% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,815 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Greif by 1.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,662 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $1,998,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,698,015.40. This represents a 29.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 19,248 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,347,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,216 shares in the company, valued at $5,475,120. This trade represents a 19.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,741 shares of company stock valued at $4,475,752 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GEF. Bank of America dropped their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Greif to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.80.

Greif Price Performance

GEF traded down $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.60. The stock had a trading volume of 20,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,587. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.41. Greif, Inc. has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $73.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.09 and a 200-day moving average of $59.89.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.23 million. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.The firm's revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This is a boost from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Greif's payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

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.