Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $1.25 Million Position in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in Greif, Inc. by 26.2%, owning 19,299 shares worth approximately $1.25 million after selling 6,857 shares in Q2.
• Greif recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.54 and representing a yield of 3.8%.
• Greif, Inc. reported earnings of $1.03 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and achieving a revenue of $1.13 billion.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) by 26.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,857 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Greif were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 13.3% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,815 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Greif by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GEF opened at $59.67 on Tuesday. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.23 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $64.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Greif Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other Greif news, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total value of $610,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,838.24. The trade was a 71.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 2,200 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 74,027 shares in the company, valued at $5,181,890. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,741 shares of company stock worth $4,596,852. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GEF shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.80.

About Greif

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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