Invesco Ltd. Has $7.12 Million Holdings in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Greif, Inc. by 4.8% during Q1, owning approximately 0.27% of the company, valued at $7.12 million.
• Greif announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.56 per share from the previous $0.54, marking a 3.4% dividend yield.
• Analysts have given Greif an average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $74.00, following various upgrades and downgrades in recent reports.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,395 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,902 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.27% of Greif worth $7,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Greif by 104.9% during 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 during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth approximately $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Greif to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 price objective (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were 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 directly owned 70,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814,585.36. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $68,880.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,741 shares of company stock valued at $6,448,252. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Greif Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE GEF opened at $66.26 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Greif's dividend payout ratio is 60.85%.

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.

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