Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for Greif from $72.00 to $76.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.14% from the previous close.
• Greif's stock is rated "overweight" by Wells Fargo, while other analysts have mixed ratings, including three "Buy" and four "Hold" ratings.
• In the last quarter, Greif reported an EPS of $1.19, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $1.39 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 1.1%.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Free Report) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $76.00 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Greif to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.00.

Greif Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEF traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 66,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,131. Greif has a 12-month low of $48.23 and a 12-month high of $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. Greif had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Greif's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Greif's payout ratio is 60.85%.

Insider Transactions at Greif

In other news, EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 68,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,698,015.40. This represents a 29.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kimberly Anne Kellermann sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.88, for a total transaction of $610,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,838.24. This trade represents a 71.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 94,741 shares of company stock worth $6,448,252. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Greif by 1.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,494 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Greif by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 5.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 1.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 31,906 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.