Greif, Inc. $GEF Stock Holdings Lessened by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 34.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 334,963 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 175,752 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.71% of Greif worth $21,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GEF. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,803 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 84.9% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 3,215 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 6.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $76.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Greif Stock Down 0.5%

Greif stock opened at $58.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $62.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.64. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $73.16.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.23 million. Greif had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Greif's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.55, for a total value of $121,100.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,037,352.90. The trade was a 2.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Greif Company 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.

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