Greif (NYSE:GEF) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Greif shares opened sharply higher, rising from a prior close of $83.13 to $86.39 before later trading at $81.30.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: two analysts rate the stock Buy, two Hold and two Sell, resulting in an average Hold rating and an $83.40 price target.
• Greif exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.61 in EPS versus $1.11 forecast and $1.17 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, or a 3.0% annualized yield.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $83.13, but opened at $86.39. Greif shares last traded at $81.30, with a volume of 36,322 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Greif from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Greif from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Greif from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Greif from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "cautious" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Greif presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.40.

Greif Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $83.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.67.

Greif (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. Greif had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 7.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Greif's payout ratio is currently 77.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Emkes sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.04, for a total value of $261,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,400 shares in the company, valued at $3,777,536. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ole Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.68, for a total value of $3,474,741.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 88,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,650,983.56. This represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,661,538. 7.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Greif

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Greif by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Greif by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Greif during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Greif in the second quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in Greif by 8.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 45.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Greif Company Profile

Greif, Inc is a global producer of industrial and paper packaging products and related services. The company manufactures and supplies fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard; corrugated sheets and products; and other packaging solutions for customers in a range of industries.

Greif also provides packaging lifecycle services, including container reconditioning, recycling, logistics and related customer support. Its products are used to package and transport food and beverage ingredients, chemicals, petroleum products, agricultural materials, pharmaceuticals and other industrial goods.

Founded in 1877 as a cooperage business, Greif has expanded into a multinational packaging company serving customers across North America, Europe and other international markets.

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