Greif (NYSE:GEF) Cut to "Strong Sell" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Greif has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" to a "strong sell" rating, indicating potential concerns about the company's performance.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.03, surpassing the consensus estimate, but experienced a 2.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own approximately 45.74% of Greif's stock, reflecting significant interest from large investment firms.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GEF. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Greif from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.80.

Greif Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Greif stock opened at $60.97 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.90. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Greif has a 1 year low of $48.23 and a 1 year high of $73.16.

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

Insider Activity at Greif

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $136,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 70,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814,585.36. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lawrence A. Hilsheimer sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $68,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 100,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,934,631.76. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,741 shares of company stock worth $4,475,752. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,251,074 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,797,000 after acquiring an additional 55,948 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Greif by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,805,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Greif by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 366,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,015,000 after purchasing an additional 128,880 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Greif by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 312,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Greif by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 298,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,229,000 after purchasing an additional 60,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

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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