Greif (NYSE:GEF) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday . 211,846 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the previous session's volume of 167,910 shares.The stock last traded at $63.84 and had previously closed at $63.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Greif from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 1st.

Greif Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.02. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.87.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $1.07. Greif had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 6.53%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Greif, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Greif's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Greif news, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard acquired 4,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.00 per share, with a total value of $315,235.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $315,235. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Gary R. Martz bought 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.86 per share, with a total value of $132,555.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 10,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $690,321.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ole G. Rosgaard bought 4,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.00 per share, for a total transaction of $315,235.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $315,235. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 42,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,864,352 and have sold 6,000 shares valued at $384,620. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Greif during the first quarter valued at $1,648,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Greif by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Greif by 1.9% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Greif by 16.8% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 202,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,183,000 after buying an additional 29,187 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Greif by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 99,060 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,445,000 after buying an additional 34,220 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.