Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Greif, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from seven brokerages, with four analysts rating it as a hold and three as a buy.
• The average twelve-month price objective for Greif's stock among analysts is $76.33, reflecting recent upgrades from firms such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
• Insiders at Greif have sold a total of 94,741 shares in the last 90 days, with the latest significant sales by executives decreasing their ownership stakes substantially.

Shares of Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GEF. Zacks Research upgraded Greif to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.24. The stock had a trading volume of 491,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,597. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Greif 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 earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.22. Greif had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 3.52%.The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif's payout ratio is presently 60.85%.

Insider Activity at Greif

In other Greif news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total transaction of $1,998,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,698,015.40. The trade was a 29.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.75, for a total value of $1,972,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 97,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,408,258. This trade represents a 23.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252 in the last ninety days. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Greif by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,251,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,797,000 after acquiring an additional 55,948 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Greif in the fourth quarter valued at $46,279,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 4.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,805,000 after buying an additional 27,832 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 128,880 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 0.9% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 312,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,312,000 after buying an additional 2,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.74% of the company's stock.

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.