Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 27,832 Shares of Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Greif, Inc. by 4.9%, acquiring a total of 596,557 shares valued at approximately $32.8 million.
• Greif recently reported quarterly earnings, posting $1.19 earnings per share, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.08, along with a revenue of $1.39 billion.
• Greif's annualized dividend of $2.16 per share translates to a dividend yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 60.85%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 596,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.26% of Greif worth $32,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GEF. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Greif by 6.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Greif in the 1st quarter worth about $608,000. Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in Greif by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 115,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,333,000 after acquiring an additional 9,946 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Greif by 23.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,888 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,707,000 after purchasing an additional 40,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Greif by 12.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Greif to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.33.

Greif Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Greif stock traded up $0.0150 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.9450. 113,064 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,815. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.13 and a 200-day moving average of $59.64. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.11. Greif had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 3.74%.The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 70,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,814,585.36. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total transaction of $610,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,838.24. This represents a 71.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,741 shares of company stock valued at $6,448,252 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.