Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) CFO Acquires $67,071.75 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer bought 925 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.51 per share, with a total value of $67,071.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 166,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,062,111.01. This trade represents a 0.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Greif Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE GEF traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 241,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 179,389. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.62. Greif, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.23 and a 1-year high of $73.16.

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

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Greif's dividend payout ratio is 60.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Greif by 7,222.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Greif by 54.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,015,000 after purchasing an additional 128,880 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,473,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GEF. Truist Financial decreased 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. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.83.

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.