UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Invests $654,000 in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd invested $654,000 in Greif, Inc., acquiring 11,899 shares during the first quarter.
• Greif announced a quarterly dividend of $0.56, increasing from the previous $0.54, and representing an annualized yield of 3.6%.
• Analyst ratings on Greif are mixed, with one downgrade to "strong sell" and a consensus price target of $75.80.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,899 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Greif by 104.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Greif during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Greif during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Greif by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF opened at $62.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.91. Greif, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $73.16.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.23 million. Greif had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 3.52%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif's payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In related news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.55, for a total transaction of $121,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 19,248 shares of Greif stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,347,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,475,120. This trade represents a 19.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,741 shares of company stock worth $4,596,852 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GEF shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Greif from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.80.

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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