Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 212,888 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 40,813 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.45% of Greif worth $11,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 7,222.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,264,000 after purchasing an additional 230,183 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $7,473,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Greif during the 4th quarter valued at $4,219,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Greif by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,229,000 after buying an additional 60,313 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In related news, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total value of $610,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,548 shares in the company, valued at $240,838.24. The trade was a 71.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $136,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 70,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,814,585.36. This represents a 2.75% 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 valued at $6,448,252 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 211,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,798. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.31 and a 200-day moving average of $58.99. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GEF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 price target (up from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.83.

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.