Engineers Gate Manager LP Purchases 24,846 Shares of Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its Greif stake by 362.2% in the second quarter, purchasing 24,846 additional shares and bringing its position to 31,706 shares valued at approximately $2.36 million.
• Greif reported quarterly earnings of $1.61 per share, surpassing estimates of $1.11, while revenue rose 3.5% year over year to $1.17 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, equivalent to a 3.0% annual yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with one Buy, three Hold, and one Sell rating and a consensus price target of $83.00. Meanwhile, company insiders sold nearly 99,000 shares worth $8.6 million over the past three months.

Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 362.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 24,846 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP owned about 0.07% of Greif worth $2,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 33.3% in the 4th 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. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Greif by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Greif by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Greif by 106.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Greif by 19.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:GEF opened at $81.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $82.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.95. Greif, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.75 and a 52-week high of $90.57.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Greif, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Greif news, CEO Ole Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.68, for a total transaction of $3,474,741.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 88,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,650,983.56. This represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $166,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 53,832 shares in the company, valued at $4,475,592.48. This trade represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,644,178. Corporate insiders own 7.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Greif from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.00.

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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