Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Sells $1,998,100.00 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) EVP Gary R. Martz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.90, for a total value of $1,998,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Greif Stock Down 0.8%

GEF traded down $0.55 on Friday, hitting $66.94. 241,393 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,389. Greif, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $73.16. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.62.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Greif had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. Greif's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Greif's payout ratio is currently 60.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GEF shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Greif from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Greif from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of Greif in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Greif

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 45.74% of the stock is currently 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.