Denali Advisors LLC Buys 9,946 Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF)

Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,946 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.24% of Greif worth $6,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Greif by 104.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Greif during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Greif in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter worth $237,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 price objective (up from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In related news, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $68,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,934,631.76. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total transaction of $1,998,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,186 shares in the company, valued at $4,698,015.40. This trade represents a 29.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GEF traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.81. 191,745 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 178,792. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Greif, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.76. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.85%.

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.