Greif (NYSE:GEF) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Greif shares crossed above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as $85.39 versus the $73.39 average. Analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $83.00.
• Greif reported strong quarterly results, posting $1.61 in EPS versus the $1.11 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.17 billion, up 3.5% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, representing a 2.9% yield.
• Company insiders sold nearly 99,000 shares worth approximately $8.6 million during the last quarter, including a sizable sale by the CEO, while institutional investors own 45.74% of the stock.

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF - Get Free Report) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $73.39 and traded as high as $85.39. Greif shares last traded at $84.5630, with a volume of 382,737 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $78.00) on shares of Greif in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America downgraded Greif from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Greif from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Greif from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.00.

Greif Trading Up 1.5%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.39.

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. Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Greif Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Greif's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ole Rosgaard sold 40,087 shares of Greif stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 88,267 shares in the company, valued at $7,650,983.56. This trade represents a 31.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 1,146 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.60, for a total transaction of $101,535.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,323 shares in the company, valued at $1,889,217.80. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,987 shares of company stock worth $8,644,178. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Greif

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEF. EVR Research LP acquired a new stake in Greif in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,848,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Greif by 35.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,492 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,361,000 after buying an additional 63,843 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Greif in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,853,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of Greif by 362.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,362,000 after buying an additional 24,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Greif by 631.5% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 26,043 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 22,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.74% of the company's stock.

About Greif

Greif, Inc NYSE: GEF is a global packaging company that produces and sells industrial packaging products and paper-based packaging materials. Its offerings include fiber, steel and plastic drums; intermediate bulk containers; containerboard and corrugated products; paperboard tubes and cores; and related closure systems and services.

The company serves customers in industries such as chemicals, food and beverage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, and other industrial markets. Greif's packaging products are designed to help customers transport, protect and store bulk materials, while its paper and corrugated products support a broad range of commercial and industrial applications.

Greif traces its history to 1877, when it was founded as a cooperage business in Cleveland, Ohio.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.