Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Greif, Inc. has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from six research firms, with an average 1-year price target of $74.83.
• The company recently reported earnings of $1.19 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue was slightly below forecast.
• Greif declared a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share, yielding approximately 3.32%, reflecting a payout ratio of 60.85%.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.83.

GEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (up from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Greif Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:GEF opened at $65.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. Greif has a 52-week low of $48.23 and a 52-week high of $73.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.03.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 3.74%. Greif's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Greif will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Greif's payout ratio is currently 60.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In related news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard sold 2,200 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was 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 directly owned 74,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,181,890. This trade represents a 2.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,838.24. The trade was a 71.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEF. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in Greif during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,279,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Greif by 7,222.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 233,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,264,000 after acquiring an additional 230,183 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,015,000 after acquiring an additional 128,880 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $7,473,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at $4,219,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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