Greif (NYSE:GEF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Greif had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Greif Price Performance

Greif stock traded up $7.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $63.06. 362,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 171,954. Greif has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $73.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.94.

Greif Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Greif's payout ratio is presently 61.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Greif

In related news, Director Frank Calhoun V. Miller acquired 1,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.50 per share, with a total value of $58,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $58,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GEF. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.17.

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.