21,214 Shares in Greif, Inc. $GEF Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

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 stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 21,214 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,167,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif during the first quarter worth about $608,000. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Greif by 12.4% during the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,504 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Greif by 217.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Greif by 4.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,805,000 after purchasing an additional 27,832 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Greif by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,923,000 after buying an additional 13,690 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.36. 276,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 219,047. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company's 50 day moving average price is $66.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Greif's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Greif news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total value of $136,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 70,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,814,585.36. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $1,998,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252 over the last three months. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GEF shares. 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. Zacks Research upgraded Greif to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.80.

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.