Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

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 a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.3333.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GEF. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Greif to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $1,998,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,698,015.40. This trade represents a 29.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total transaction of $610,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,548 shares in the company, valued at $240,838.24. This represents a 71.72% 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 valued at $6,448,252 in the last 90 days. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEF. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif during the first quarter worth $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of GEF stock opened at $67.8860 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.69. Greif has a 52 week low of $48.23 and a 52 week high of $73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Greif's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.85%.

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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